It's About Time
by PurryCat
Summary: [COMPLETE] Lorelai and Luke become true friends, and spend more time together, not just in the diner. As they have more and more conversations about life and love, will they finally realize that they have been building a strong foundation for a romantic relationship all along? Begins in 4.14 'The Incredible Sinking Lorelais'. Thanks so much Junienmomo for betaing! EPILOGUE ADDED.
1. Chapter One: Whine and a Loan

**Author's Note: I don't own the rights to these characters.**

This brandnew story has been in my head for quite some time, before I even read fanfic. In all of the stories I've read so far, the writers got Luke and Lorelai together either before the show even started, or before they actually got together on the show. We all know how that ended. The writers of the show ran out of ideas, and did the most unoriginal thing: They brought in a family member nobody had known of before.

So here in my story, I want to try a different approach. I want to wait longer. Now, bear with me. This story starts in 4.14 'The Incredible Sinking Lorelais'. Lorelai is with Jason, and it will stay that way for a while. Don't worry, I'm a JavaJunkie girl from head to toe, and that won't change. But I did actually like Digger. They will break up eventually, and I won't write too many scenes with them.

A special Dankeschön goes to my beta** junienmomo**, you were so fast with your notes for me! Thanks so much for the encouragement! Now, enjoy the first chapter, and let me know if this is something you'd be interested in.

* * *

**Chapter One: Whine and a Loan**

Lorelai had never been fine with bringing boyfriends to her parents' house. Maybe it was about the questions her mother was undoubtedly gonna ask, or the way her father would force a man to drink his Scotch or smoke a cigar with him. So when she yet again decided not to tell her parents about her relationship with Jason, a man who has been to the Gilmore mansion numerous times, Lorelai put off a potentially disastrous evening. She was actually congratulating herself. Didn't it show a great deal of affection and thoughtfulness, when she avoided the meeting her parents part of any relationship?

With Jason, it had been different anyhow. She had known him since they were children, her parents, especially her father, were very fond of him, and she felt they both, though from the same social background, had succeeded in breaking out of that stiff world. Of course, Lorelai's pregnancy 20 years ago had helped to make her the opposite of her mother, or at least that's what Lorelai thought she'd be. Jason on the other hand had managed to become who he was with his unique personality.

So, when Emily Gilmore had called her one and only child and asked her to have lunch, or a luncheon as some other Gilmore girl would have put it, with her grandmother Trix, her parents and Jason, Lorelai knew that meeting the parents first probably would have been a wiser move. Due to the lack of time, and communication with her daughter, Lorelai's only advice she could give Jason was to get a book on French antiques for Lorelai the first, to please the old lady as well as a means of distraction. She figured that her grandmother's distinct grasp for all things buried under the surface might need distraction.

Little did Lorelai know about her grandmother's keen sense of other things secret. Being busy with hiding her relationship with Jason from her parents, and now her grandmother, Lorelai forgot to pay attention to the other secret she was keeping from everybody else, including her own daughter, business partner, and friends. It was like watching a movie for the first time when you're really invested in the story. You love the actors, characters, and you feel so damn certain about what's going to happen next. Because you understand the movie, you feel like you're the only person who could fully understand where this is going. And then, similar to the certainty about the Titanic being unsinkable, you're proven differently.

"How is the money holding up?", was the question from her grandmother that signaled the point where they'd left the script Lorelai had in her head.

"Excuse me?", she asked, snapping back to reality.

"The money. I was somewhat aware of your financial situation before you took this on. How much do you have left?", Trix wanted to know.

"Plenty. Enough to finish", Lorelai heard herself lie.

"You're in trouble."

"No", Lorelai said unconvincingly.

"You are hemorrhaging money. I see it in your eyes. It must be costing a fortune to get a contractor to stick to a projected completion date. And you're not working now. Unless your partner is a Rockefeller, you are in serious financial trouble", Trix said.

Lorelai didn't know how she did it, but her grandmother had just nailed it. She zoned out after that, only half hearing the argument that was now going on between her father and her grandmother. She one more time lied about not being in deep financial trouble, and then went back to that state of complete unawareness. She figured her body forced her ears to be that selective in order not to have a stroke, or worse, cry in front of her family and boyfriend.

After what had felt like an eternity, Lorelai found herself next to her car, begging her purse to point her to the location of her key ring.

"Lorelai", she heard him say.

"Well, bummer we decided not to contact the people from Guinness World Record for the most disastrous family meal. I'm sure we would have snapped it right from those Mansons", Lorelai said, still fumbling for her keys.

"I'd give you a hug, but we're in front of your parents' house, so rain check?", Jason offered.

"Sure, I have to go", she said when she finally found her key.

* * *

On the way back to Stars Hollow, Lorelai dreaded telling the news to Luke more than ever. Now that Sookie, Tom, her parents, grandmother, and boyfriend knew about her financial trouble, she had to work on solving the problem, instead of admiring it.

Luke had always assured her of her own abilities, but now, she felt more unsure than ever. Her dream was so close, yet so far away.

It had taken all of her willpower and persuasion not to break down in front of everybody, and now, sitting with Luke, she finally felt she could let go of all those feelings of uncertainty and fear. Feelings that right now flooded through her eyeballs. His reassuring, calming voice combined with his arms that held her tight made the words come out of her mouth like they were the Niagara Falls.

"I just thought I had everything under control, but I didn't, and the inn is just falling apart. This has been my dream forever, and I have it, and it's here, and I'm failing. I can't handle it. I just spend every minute running around and working and thinking. And I thought I would have help, but Sookie has Davey, and Michel has Celine, and I'm - I can't do it all by myself. And I don't even have time to see my kid, and hell, forget see her, just even talk to her. And I miss her. And I sat there in my parents' house just listening to my grandmother basically call me a charity case, and I couldn't even argue with her. I couldn't even say anything, because I am. I'm running out of money, and I don't know what to do about it, and I was gonna, I was gonna ask you for thirty thousand dollars at dinner tonight. That's how pathetic I am", Lorelai said.

Luke was surprised. "Thirty thousand dollars. Well, okay, I mean if you -"

But she interrupted him. "I don't want to talk about it now. I don't want to think about it. I'm failing. I'm failing"

Lorelai said, now completely buried in his chest. His gentle rubs on her arm, and their tight hug only managed to calm her body down. Her mind, however, was still very upset.

"You are not failing", he said calmly.

"I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do", Lorelai said desperately.

"It's OK", Luke replied.

* * *

Later that night, she found herself in Hartford, yet again. She knew that it would be going too far to ask Luke for the money. She knew that she'd better not mix money with friendship. But she had to get the money from somewhere. She drove straight to Jason's apartment. When he opened the door, he could see that she had cried.

"How are you holding up?", he asked sincerely.

"I'll take that hug now", she said and basically threw herself into his arms. His grip was by far not that firm as Luke's, there were no words to make it all better.

"Can I do anything to help?", he asked.

Lorelai loosened the grip and stepped into his kitchen. "Actually, I'd like to ask you something."

"Oh?"

"Here, let's sit down", she said as she walked to his couch. "I came to ask you if you'd be willing to loan me thirty thousand dollars."

He said nothing, got up, and quickly took his check book from the side table. He gave her the check, and said "Of course."

* * *

Another drive, another blurred vision from the tears running down her cheeks. When Lorelai finally arrived at the crapshack, all she had the energy for was to drop onto her bed, clothes and make-up still on. She felt the tiredness wash over her.

The next morning, she woke up surprised that she had found sleep at all. Her first thoughts went to Rory and the fact that she still hadn't talked to her. She left her another message before she even considered to go to the shower.

An hour later, Lorelai entered Luke's diner, where she apologized for her breakdown in the park. Luke assured her it was OK. She worked on her laptop and wrote Rory an e-mail. It made Luke nuts. Not the laptop part, but the cord that made it impossible for him to work normally. He couldn't count how many times he had to limbo under the cord. He even fell once. All this time he watched her intently. He had seen her too many times in a state like this. He could tell by her eyes that the banter about Alec Baldwin and Charles Dickens was just another façade to hide her true feelings. He knew the act, seen it a lot over the years. But her eyes always gave her away, at least to him they did.

It had broken his heart that she lost the belief in herself, in her abilities. Luke was sure that Lorelai could achieve anything she wanted. And gladly this was ultimately just a matter of money, which he could provide. When Lorelai was done with her laptop work, he checked the diner and slid an envelope over the counter.

"What's this?", she asked.

"It's what it is."

Lorelai held the envelope to her forehead. "A monk, a trunk, and a skunk."

Luke looked confused. "What are you doing?", he asked.

"Carnak, although I don't have a punch line. Never stopped Johnny."

He had no idea what she was talking about. "Put that down. Hide it", he demanded.

"What is it?"

"Open it later."

She opened the envelope anyway, sighed and sat down. "A check to me for thirty thousand dollars."

"Shh!", Luke said.

"Luke, this is the money I was gonna ask you for."

"And you did ask, and here it is."

"But I didn't, not officially. I blubbered an amount to you. And afterwards I felt awful to even consider asking you. We're friends, Luke. Good friends. I don't want money coming in between us."

"Look, Lorelai. It's no big deal. You need money, I have it, so it's not like I have to live on ramen noodles for the rest of the year. Take it."

"Luke, I can't take it."

"Why? Why can't you take it?"

"I already have it."

"Lorelai, you were so relieved after you paid back your parents the tuition for Chilton. Do you think it's a good idea to get the money from them? I've seen you suffer from your mother's little schemes. And you had to go through each one of them, because you were indebted to th-", Luke said before she interrupted him

"I have a boyfriend."

Having his assumption confirmed gave Luke a stinging pain in the chest. "So?", he asked, desperately trying to sound nonchalant.

"I asked him last night, and he gave me a check."

Luke swallowed. Not only was he beat by yet another guy to _be_ with Lorelai, he now couldn't even do her a favor, because the putz in the Mercedes was faster.

"Oh", Luke said, adding, "Good, that's good. I guess it means your dream comes true after all."

"I guess it does. Bye Luke. And thank you. It means a lot", she said before she left the diner.

Luke watched her go, wondering if his dream might come true some day.

* * *

**Did you like it? It would make my day if you leave a review on your way out! Tell me what you think! Have a great day!**


	2. Chapter Two: A Friend in Need

**AN: Hello, Gilmore lovers, fellow JavaJunkie shippers! Here it comes... brrrrrrrrr (yeah, that's the drum roll slash helicopter noise): The new chapter! As always: I don't own the rights to these characters, doesn't mean I can't play with them like they're my puppets! Thank you so much junienmomo for your excellent beta work. You make me a better writer! Now, enjoy the new chapter!**

_**Previously:**_

_**"Luke, this is the money I was gonna ask you for. I can't take it."**_

_**"Why? Why can't you take it?"**_

_**"I have a boyfriend. I asked him last night, and he gave me a check."**_

* * *

**Chapter Two: A Friend in Need**

As if all the things on her to-do list weren't enough, Lorelai had to deal with the death of her grandmother, and the family crisis it had in tow on top of the usual craziness and busy schedule the opening of her inn brought with it. She sighed. Yet again. She wondered if the 74th sigh of the day would qualify for calling it her new hobby. Maybe she could join a club. Nah, she didn't have time for club meetings. Ooh, maybe she could make a bumper sticker. _Honk if my driving makes you sigh. _That's it, she thought. Brilliant. She sighed. 75 and counting.

Lorelai stirred in her mug with only coffee, no milk, no sugar. Luke came to stand behind her. He frowned.

"If you continue stirring, you'll soon hit the table with your spoon", Luke grunted.

No reaction. "That would be the point where the brown liquid of death flooded the table", he said.

No reaction. "Your shoulder joint would probably be dislocated by then."

Still no reaction. "Because you would have stirred so much that all the ligaments would be used up."

No reaction whatsoever. Just stirring. "Just bone on bone, rubbing against each other."

She looked up. Her expression was bland. Luke kept talking. "You'd have to lick the coffee off the table, because I certainly won't get you another cup."

"What do you think fresh clothing means?", she asked quietly.

"What? Why would I-?", he asked before she interrupted him.

"Neither do I! Is it new clothing? Freshly washed clothing? Dry-cleaned clothing?", Lorelai wondered.

"I wouldn't know. Why, what do you need fresh clothing for?", Luke asked, and dreaded her answer, as he often did.

"My grandmother wants to be cremated in fresh clothing."

"Why would she talk to you about that?"

"She didn't. She died. And because my grandmother was possibly the most evil woman in the world, my mother stopped making the funeral arrangements for her. Which made me the Gilmore in charge. Sounds fun, doesn't it?", she said sarcastically.

"Oh gosh, Lorelai, I'm so sorry", Luke said, mentally kicking himself, as he turned to stand beside her, his hand firmly grasping her shoulder. "Is there anything I can do for you?", he asked sincerely.

She winced a little under his touch. Somehow, in spite of the pain, the warmth of his fingers sent a wave of solace through her veins.

"I'd like that new cup of coffee in case I stir a hole in this mug", she said with a weak smile.

"You got it", he answered with a wink as he left her alone with her thoughts.

* * *

After a sleepless night, Lorelai didn't exactly know what to expect of the day. In her head she was going through different scenarios. The range was wide, from public breakdown to silent suffering. She knew her mother was terribly hurt, and when people are hurt, they are unpredictable. Lorelai once again felt like she had to shoulder the weight all by herself, a weight that was too much to bear for one person. Most of all, she was glad that Trix's death itself didn't hit her that hard, which was a good thing.

There were quite a few things that were certainly going to happen that day. Since Sookie was responsible for the catering, the food would be amazing. Rory had assured her that if Richard didn't feel strong enough for the eulogy, she'd be prepared to deliver it. Lorelai's thoughts went back to Rory's high school graduation. Almost a year ago, she had said that Richard and Emily were her twin pillars that gave her strength. A feeling of emptiness spread in Lorelai's chest as she pondered the thought. Rory was a pillar for her, but she had already trusted her with enough for this funeral. This crisis definitely was a two pillar crisis. One simply wasn't enough.

Sookie had always supported her, but it wasn't the same as having a partner who could make sure that everything was double checked. Sookie was her best friend and business partner. Lorelai was very grateful to have her by her side. But that pillar didn't quite measure up to Rory's or to the one of a husband. Could Jason be a pillar for Lorelai? She simply didn't know. They have known each longer for a long time, but their relationship was new. Was it enough that he sent her flowers for every possible occasion?

Another certain thing for the day was that Jason wouldn't be there. Lorelai could understand his reasoning, she couldn't say she was a fan of funerals herself. She had hoped that Jason's loyalty to her father had been big enough to overcome his uneasiness. She had hoped he could overcome it for her, for them. Maybe he wasn't as much in this relationship as she was. Maybe he had different priorities. Maybe she was too sensitive right now.

Lorelai dragged herself out of bed, she took a quick shower, and was on her way to Luke's. His night hadn't been much better than hers. After a huge fight with Nicole, he had decided to sleep in his old apartment above the diner. Nicole had wanted him to accompany her to a lunch given by one of the named partners in her law firm, and he had tried to explain to her that he simply couldn't do it because he had an important business meeting himself. The more he had repeated the sentences the night before, the more he believed them. They sounded so much better than the truth. Luke had preferred a night in his old bed to the route their conversation would have taken if he had told her the truth.

_"I need to be there for a friend."_

_"Who? Who is so important that you can't be there for me, your wife?"_

_"It's Lorelai."_

_"You've got to be kidding!"  
_

_"No, I'm not. She was there for me when my uncle died two years ago, she actually saved the funeral. So now, I need to be there for her."_

_"She saved the funeral? Come on, there is no such thing as 'saving a funeral'! What did she do? Murder your uncle? Make the casket? Carve his name on the headstone?"_

_"Stop! Don't yell at me, Nicole! You have no right to talk about her like that!"_

_"Can you even hear yourself? You talk about her like _she's_ the wife, and _I'm_ the mistress, not the other way round! Because that's what she really did, right Luke? She comforted you afterwards, distracted you a little? Showed you you could still feel something other than pain?"_

_"Did you just insinuate that I'm sleeping with her? Seriously? We're married here, Nicole! I'm no adulterer! I'm merely helping a friend. And she does have a boyfriend."_

_"That bugs you, admit it! OK, go help her, be there for her. Maybe I'm lucky and _my_ grandma will die soon so that you can show your loyalty and support to someone other than her!"_

Yep, the lie that had come across his lips certainly was better than the truth. The truth was that Lorelai was his best friend and that she had done countless nice things for him. The truth also was that if Nicole ever found out that Luke had offered to loan Lorelai thirty thousand dollars, their marriage probably would be over. Not to imagine what would have happened if Lorelai had taken him up on the offer. Luke honestly didn't know what it was with women. Why did they think there was something going on between him and Lorelai? He had gotten used to the nosy yentas from Stars Hollow. Was it so hard to believe that a man and a woman could be friends?

Besides, Lorelai Gilmore was absolutely not his type. Granted, she was a beauty, but that loud personality of hers? She was neon pink with rhinestones, and he was plaid flannel.

Lorelai sat on a stool on the counter, Luke silently poured coffee into her favorite mug.

"No lecture?", she asked carefully.

"Not today", he answered calmly.

"Because my grandmother died?"

"Yes."

"Thanks."

Sometimes the exchange of ten words was enough.

"What can I get ya for breakfast?", Luke said with his notepad in his left hand and his pencil in his right.

"I'm not hungry", Lorelai replied.

"I'm making you eggs. You can't have only coffee and nothing else in your stomach. Funerals are tough, OK. Even if you're not that sad about the death, they're sad. They mean goodbye. Believe me", Luke said with his eyes set on hers.

"I believe you. Can you scramble my eggs?"

"Yes."

"Add a little cheddar?"

"Yes."

"Bacon on the side?"

"Yes."

"Will you say yes to anything?"

"Yes."

"Thanks, Luke."

"Don't mention it."

The one thing she didn't ask for, he had already agreed to. He assumed it was an understanding. He'd be there for her at the actual funeral. He had picked up his suit at the dry cleaner's yesterday, he had given his dress shoes a shine and pressed his white shirt. Sometimes the exchange of no words was enough.

Lorelai wolfed down her eggs, and before he realized it, he found a ten dollar bill next to the empty coffee mug, and saw her walking to her jeep.

* * *

90 freaked out minutes later, Trix had on new, fresh underwear, and a Hello Kitty bracelet, and Lorelai sat down in the pew between her mother and Rory at St. John's. She turned around to see which relatives had shown up, and ultimately who she had to avoid. Another deep sigh. No Totsie, one less worry. Lorelai's eyes travelled further back, and froze when she caught a glimpse of a very handsome man in a black suit. He smiled at her and waved his hand.

"Hey, what's with the contortions?", Rory whispered.

"I forgot my glasses. There's a very handsome guy in the back who keeps smiling at me."

Rory turned around, and the man waved again. "Very handsome guy, huh?", she asked her mother as she waved back.

"Yeah, why? Do you know him? Who is he?", Lorelai asked with excitement in her voice.

"Seriously? Mom, that's Luke!", Rory said, trying to hide her mocking tone behind her smile.

"Are you kidding me?", an astounded Lorelai asked.

"You sound so surprised. You've seen him in this suit. And when he's shaved. And when he's not wearing his hat."

"Did you know he was gonna come?"

"No, but it's a very nice thing, don't you think?", Rory asked.

"Definitely."

"It's something you only do for very close friends. I mean, he didn't even know Gran."

"Shh, the minister's starting", Lorelai remarked.

After the service, Lorelai made a beeline for Luke.

"Isn't this a surprise! What are you doing here?", she asked him.

He pulled her in for a tight hug. "Just trying to repay the favor. After all what you have done for me when Louie died."

"I don't know what to say. Thank you, I guess", Lorelai said, touched, as she loosened the grip from his broad shoulders.

"If you thank me now, what are you gonna do when I tell you that I have a thermos filled with coffee in my truck?"

"I think I might say 'Did you ever know that you're my hero?' And by say I mean sing."

"Don't", he replied with a wink.

"So, are you gonna come back to my parent's house? Sookie's doing the catering, so the food will be fabulous."

"Sorry, I have to go back to the diner. Come out to the truck with me?", he asked.

"Sure", she answered as she followed him out of the church.

They talked a bit about the service while Lorelai drank the coffee he had brought her. Afterwards he drove back to Stars Hollow. Lorelai drove her Jeep back to the Gilmore mansion. She shook her head in amazement. That was such a sweet thing, such a Luke thing that he had done for her. He truly was a good guy, there for her in moments that mattered. When she arrived at her parents' house, Lorelai soon realized that Sookie had outdone herself. It was a lovely buffet, but the waiters had dead serious looks on their faces. Just when Sookie went to tell them to change their facial expressions, Lorelai was once again stunned by the appearance of someone.

"Hey there, Jason", she said in a forced nonchalant voice.

"Hey, Lorelai. It's a beautiful spread", he remarked.

"Thank you. What did you think of the ceremony?", she asked as if she was on an audition for Days of Our Lives.

"Uh, touching. Very, very touching", he said sincerely.

"And the part where the reverend forgot where he was?", she asked with knitted brows.

"A much needed flash of levity. Although, on the whole, I thought he did an excellent job. The whole service was dignified and emotional, but not maudlin. How am I doing?", he asked, meaning his performance.

"A little too well for my liking."

"Did you get my flowers?", he wanted to know.

"Yes, I did", Lorelai replied. "Thank you, they're beautiful", she added with a smile.

"I'm gonna go find my partner. I'll catch up with you later", he said and went away.

"OK", Lorelai said.

But she couldn't help but wonder why his last statement gave her a little pang in her heart. _His partner. I'm his partner._ And for the first time in the last couple months she regretted that their relationship was a secret. But he showed up, not for the church service, but this was nice too. Maybe Jason Stiles had pillar potential after all.

* * *

**Yes, the DVD owners among you will have recognized the last scene. Unfortunately, it landed on the floor of the cutting room many moons ago. I think that's actually a shame, because it kinda set a different tone for Lorelai and Jason's relationship. As my beta junienmomo pointed out, we don't know if Lorelai's glasses actually are shortsight glasses or not. In my fantasy land they are. Maybe because mine are too... Have I told you how much I like reviews? Well, let me put it this way. Lorelai loves the coffee, I love the reviews. **

**So, anyway, reviews are always appreciated, if you are so kind and leave me one, that'd be great! **


	3. Chapter Three: The Key to Relationships

**AN: Hi there! I hope you're good. Here it is, the next chapter of this little story of mine. Thanks for the reviews you gave me, I sure love reading them. My thanks go to my fabulous beta junienmomo, whose notes were excellent and helpful as always! I don't know what I'd do without you. OK, go ahead and read, I hope you enjoy it! Oh, and I still don't own the rights to these characters.**

* * *

**Chapter Three: The Key to Relationships**

Sometimes in life, a decision is made, but then, there are nothing but mixed messages. Lorelai had decided to stay in the relationship with Jason. After all, he had shown up at her grandmother's funeral, and she really liked him. Was he weird? Yes. Did she like his level of weirdness? Definitely. As awkward as their talk earlier this week had been, he had given her a key to his apartment. But to Lorelai, it all had felt strange. He didn't seem to have gladly given her the key, it was more like he felt it was time. Or something like that.

Now, a couple days later, Lorelai was working her butt off to get him to talk. An absentmined Jason wasn't a good conversational partner this night. Lorelai knew something was up. She was sensing Jason was going to break up with her. All the talk about how it did it all wrong with the key, and how he usually breaks it off at that point in a relationship.

"Oh well, gee, should we get a cake?", was all Lorelai could say. _With cake, I can turn even the saddest break-up into something sweet, or at least bittersweet._

Now he was talking about running and bolting? _How could I be so wrong about that guy?_

"The other night I woke up and the timer went off in my head- "Hey, buddy, it's about that time." So I did what I always do. I thought about you, and I thought about us, and I thought about all the things that bother me, and I came up with nothing."

"Nothing?", she asked skepitically and then focussed on her shoes.

"I went over it and over it in my head. That feeling, that "I want out" feeling- it wasn't there. What was there was the very strong sense that if I did...bolt... I might as well go out and find a pointy hat, a stool, and a classroom full of sixth graders, because I'd be an absolute idiot to screw this up. So I went out and made the key", Jason explained softly.

"The talking key."_ OK, this wasn't exactly going as anticipated._

"And I was hoping that the key would say that this is different, and that I want you in my life a lot more than you are now."

"Wow. Well, I mean, it would have been more interesting to hear that from the key... it's definitely more romantic hearing it from you", Lorelai said and kissed him.

"I'm gonna go take care of Mr. Caine for you now", he said in a faked-manly manner.

"I would appreciate that."

"Good night."

"Good night, Jason." Lorelai turned around. "Jason?", she said.

"Yes?"

"Since we never got the cake, do you think we should get the next best thing?"

"The next best thing?"

"Yeah, wanna come in?"

He hesitated. But he knew very well that this was the time to spend the night at her place. She spent practically every free minute with him at his place, so this was the time to repay the favor.

"Sure", he said and smiled broadly as he followed her in.

* * *

Three hours later, Lorelai woke up. She scanned the room through half-closed eyelids.

"Jason?", she asked with a deep voice.

No answer. She sat up, and checked her alarm clock. 1:24 am. She got up, and went downstairs to get something to drink. She needed to get rid of that strange taste on her tongue. Lorelai secretly hoped to find Jason on her couch, but it was empty. She walked to the window, and saw only her Jeep in the driveway. On her way to the kitchen, she saw a bright post-it on the desk. She took it, and went to the kitchen where the lights above the stove were still on. With knitted brows, she read the note.

_Lorelai,_

_thank you for a great night. Sorry, but I have to sleep in my own bed._

_Love, Jason_

Love, Jason. _Love_, Jason? _Jason loves me? _Lorelai was confused. _Why can't he spend the night at my place if he loves me? Where is this relationship going when we have to have a wall, or several counties, to separate us at night? _As the exhaustion washed over her face, she quickly grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, and vanished upstairs. Just before she reached the downstairs landing, she saw the red LED blinking. She pressed the button, and her machine released its message.

_You have two new messages: "Hey, it's Luke. I'm sorry to be calling you like this, but I was wondering if, when you get this message, you could come pick me up 'cause I need a ride. I'm in Litchfield, the corner of Mason and Pine. It's a big, white building. You'll recognize it by the police sign outside because, oh, hell, I'm in jail. Okay, there I said it. Long story. I'll tell you when you get here. Thanks... if you come. Oh, one more thing. I need to borrow a little money- 300 bucks. It's just a loan, and, oh, hell, it's for my bail."_ Then he yelled into the background:_ "I'm gettin' off now! Relax!"_

_"Lorelai, it's Luke.. again. I just wanted to let you know that you don't have to pick me up anymore. Liz is in town, and she bailed me out. See ya tomorrow. Probably. I mean, you come in practically every day. Geez, see ya whenever you come in. Bye."_

Lorelai breathed deeply, and tried to let the information sink in. Luke. Prison. Bail. "And I thought I had a weird night", she mumbled on her way upstairs.

She had absolutely no idea why, but somehow she spent the night tossing and turning. She didn't know if it was the fact that Jason had decided to... bolt, or if it was because she couldn't for the life of her figure out why Luke ended up in jail in the first place. Did he kill Taylor? Well, bail would have been so much higher than 300 dollars. OK, what could Luke have done to get arrested for? Lorelai knew that he certainly had the physique to punch someone's lights out, but would Luke actually do that? She pondered the thought, and turned to lie on her right side with her hands under her head. _Wait, why did Luke call _me_ of all people? He clearly was embarassed to call here. Why didn't he call this Ed guy he's been talking about, or his wife? Oh my God, he called me instead of Nicole. How weird is that?_

Since she couldn't find out what the deal with Luke was, her thoughts went to Jason. Lorelai had spent an awful lot of their time together at his place. Not that she didn't like the slightly luxurious feel of his place, but compared to her own home, it felt like a nicely decorated hotel suite in a big city. And as the months progressed, Lorelai longed for a bit more intimacy. Their relationship of course wasn't at a point where they would comfortably clip their toe nails in front of each other. But she wanted to wake up at night, and see his peaceful, sleeping face, she wanted to smell him on her sheets the night after. As far as Lorelai was concerned, he didn't look peaceful when he slept and was completely odorless, because she simply didn't know better.

She sighed. Maybe it had indeed become a new hobby of hers to sigh. As awkward as the moment was when he first sprung it on her, she admired Jason for feeling comfortable enough to give her a key to his apartment. Maybe that was his way of showing how completely comfortable he was with her. She had to give it to him, he actually did this all right. First relationship, then key. Unlike someone else, who actually got engaged and never managed to have her key duplicated. Perhaps that was the problem with Max, they never had a relationship, hence no foundation to build a successful marriage upon.

With the feeling of a lesson learned, and all that wisdom almost three years late, mixed with uncertainty Lorelai finally fell asleep.

* * *

The bell jingled, and Patty immediately knew there was something up with Lorelai. She had just watched her cordially greet Mrs. Cassini in front of the diner, and now she was shyly standing in front of the counter at Luke's. If only everybody was wearing microphones, or would bother to enunciate. Unfortunely, she only saw how Luke came around the counter, put his hands on Lorelai's shoulders, and guided her behind the curtain. _Maybe we could distract Luke, and in the meantime have Kirk install bugging devices in that apartment upstairs._ Patty was sure that it was one of the few mysterious places left in Stars Hollow. How many times she wished she could have been a fly on that wal upstairs... _Bugging devices? Think big, Patty. Have Kirk install hidden cameras. That's it, hidden cameras. I have to tell Babette about the idea..._

"Luke, what's the matter with you?", Lorelai wanted to know as they entered his old apartment.

"I'm sorry I pushed you, but I just wanted to come clean about last night. And, I think I need your advice."

"Shoot", she said and went to couch to sit down.

"OK, that was me on your machine last night", he said and regretted that nonsensical confession the second it had left his mouth.

"I kind of figured that", she replied hesitantly, adding, "You said your name and all, so I kind of knew."

"Right, so you might wonder how I got where I was last night."

"The thought might have crossed my mind last night", she admitted.

"I beat up some guy's car. Not just some guy's. The guy my wife is sleeping with", he said and then paused.

Pure astonishment was visible on Lorelai's face. "I assume you didn't beat up your own car, which means you're not the guy Nicole is sleeping with?"

"No, I didn't beat up my own car", he said quietly, "And until recently, _I_ was the guy she was sleeping with."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm sorry Lorelai, but I have never ever in my life talked to someone so openly about my sex life without sleeping with them..."

"Am I here for revenge sex?", she said half-teasingly.

"No", he chuckled, then immediately became serious again, "I mean that this is hard for me. Talking to you about it is damn hard for me", he told her and pressed the heel of his hands to his eyes.

"Listen, Luke. You don't have to tell me anything if you're not fine with sharing private information", she assured him.

"Lorelai, you're the only one I can imagine sharing it with. I just need a minute to collect myself", Luke said as he continued to pace the room before the couch.

She gave him a reassuring look, and patted the couch next to her. He sat down, and loudly exhaled.

"Can I ask a question?", she carefully asked.

"Sure."

"Why his car?"

Luke told her about his previous night, and how he basically stalked his own wife to find the clarity he needed.

"Before I knew it, a police car showed up, and I was arrested. So, what I need you to tell me is, if I, um, uh, should get tested for STDs."

"Wow, OK, so tell me again, and I'm sorry if this question is too personal, because honestly, you don't have to answer, this is none of my business, when was the last time Nicole and you...", Lorelai asked, clearly uncomfortable in this situation.

"Last week. And I don't know how long this other guy has been in the picture. I suspected it, but I wanted to know for sure. Lorelai, I'm really scared to have caught something. She's on the pill, you know, and I don't know, God, I hope they used a condom, or condoms. Plural, because he sure was in there for a long time. In my house. With my wife", Luke said, his pain obvious in his eyes.

Lorelai squeezed his hand, and gave him a smile.

"Again, I'm sorry to be blunt here, but you said a couple times that you needed confirmation, meaning you have been suspecting something. What exactly is the deal with you two? Have you been fighting?"

"Well, yeah. When Nicole suggested putting the divorce on hold and dating again, I thought we'd take it slow. Then she got the idea in her head to buy a townhouse and move in together. I was fine with it, but honestly, I wasn't a big part of the whole process. She had selected three places, but when we looked at them together, she made comments like "We wouldn't want that view 24/7, would we?", or "A wood burning fireplace would be so nice, woudn't it?", where it was clear that she was manipulating me because she secretly had already made her choice. Then, after we had moved in, she wouldn't even let me put the furniture together, or hang the pictures. Those are tasks men do, men _can_ do."

"Nothing says testosterone more than hanging pictures", she confirmed.

"Right, so I think that all of that led to me not being there every night, because frankly, it didn't feel like my house. It's nice there, cozy, but it's not _my_ house. So Nicole got angry because she wanted me to stay there every night. She's a big fan of the every night thing."

"Dirty!", Lorelai remarked.

Luke chuckled.

"So, um, Luke?", she asked hesitantly.

"Yeah?"

"Why exactly didn't you spend the night at Nicole's? Is it the house? That you don't feel at home?"

"I guess. Sometimes I have early deliveries. Why?"

"Because - and I know you might hate me for taking Nicole's side here a little bit - I kinda have a similar problem with my boyfriend. Jason. That's his name. We've been dating for almost five months, and he has never spent the night at my place, and I kinda see Nicole's point. I mean, he hasn't cheated on me or anything, at least not that I know of, but, I don't know. I just can't make him stay for the night. I spend the night at his place all the time, and he's this light sleeper, and we, um, we kinda sleep in separate rooms, even after we've... had sex", Lorelai said and avoided to look into his eyes.

Luke didn't know if he wanted to laugh or cry.

"I need more information", he decided to say.

"OK, he has this amazing guest room with a TV that comes out of the foot of the bed, a jacuzzi, and all those books and DVDs, because apparently he can't have the distraction. And it's been fine, wonderful actually to be able to use all of that. But I don't know, I want to have some intimacy. He's given me a key to his apartment, but then, last night, he just left me, didn't even wake me to tell me he was leaving. I really appreciate that he wants me in his life, I, um, I'm just not sure he wants to be in mine."

"Last night, huh?"

"Yeah, I woke up at like half past one, and he wasn't there. He had left me a note. That's when I got your messages by the way. I wonder when he left. Dare I ask if he just waited for me to fall asleep, or did he try to fall asleep, and when it didn't work he left?"

Luke shifted uneasily on the couch.

"What's the matter?", she asked insecurely.

"Geez, this is awkward Lorelai, but I think it's the former", Luke said slowly.

"What? How do you know?"

"Uh, I saw him, his car actually."

"What? When?", a stunned Lorelai wanted to know.

"I locked up the diner at about 11 or 11:30 last night, and-", he said before he was interrupted.

"So late?"

"Yeah, Kirk and Lulu had another date. So, anyway, I was locking the door, and I saw him driving by."

"But how do you know it was him? You haven't even met him."

"Actually, a few weeks back, I saw you with him in his car. One morning in front of the diner."

Lorelai felt incredibly sad at that moment. So he hadn't even tried to get some sleep next to her.

"I, uh, I don't know what to say", Lorelai said.

"Nothing. You don't have to say anything."

They sat there for a few moments, each in deep thought. Luke couldn't stand seeing Lorelai like this. He couldn't help but hate Jason for hurting her like that. But at the same time, he felt like a jerk for putting Nicole in a similar situation. His anger from the night before was slowly giving way to guilt. The hurt stayed, deeply rooted in his heart, his pride heavily bruised by her indiscretion. After a while, Luke stood up, and gave her his hand to pull Lorelai up.

"So, you want some coffee and pancakes for breakfast?", he asked with a consoling smile.

"You have to ask? But make it to go, I have to be at the inn like 20 minutes ago."

Back downstairs, Luke gave Lorelai her order, and scanned the room. He leaned over the counter, and quietly asked, "Is it my fault? With Nicole, is it my fault that she..."

"Luke, no", she said calmly. "You don't deserve this, you're a great man."

"But I could have tried harder, right, I could have tried harder?"

"Maybe. But in relationships, both parties are to blame. I think with Jason and I, I should have said something. I don't think I ever told him how it makes me feel to see that he doesn't really want to be in my life."

"No offense, Lorelai, but the guy left you alone without saying goodbye after sleeping with you. I may be a lousy husband, and rarely stay over at our house, but when I go there, I stay there", Luke explained, then added, "Don't be mad, OK? For my being blunt here."

"No, it's alright. And to come back to your question from before. I would get tested. But it's your decision", she said.

Both nodded in agreement. Both knew they had to have a serious conversation with their respective partners. And Luke would have to make a phone call to the Stars Hollow clinic.

* * *

**Phew! So, what do you say? Did you like it? Yes, no? Leave me a review either way. I only read them religiously. Have a great week!**


	4. Chapter Four: 4 Conversations

**AN: **Hi everyone! I'm so sorry that this update took so long. I was gardening like crazy, and it seems like this is a good year for my carrots and radishes. Zucchini however, not so good. I want to thank all of you who not only took time to read my story, but also reviewed it. I enjoyed reading all of the reviews. Unfortunately, I can't reply to guest reviews, so I have to do it this way.

**LGG **wrote "I thought that was a good Luke/Lorelai moment in the show where she quickly ran out of her house to his aid. That's a bummer you cut that out. And you made Lorelai seem as if she didn't care. Sad." So let me just say this: In my story, Lorelai found out about Luke being in jail when she had just been left alone by Jason after having had sex. So she was devastated. On top of that, Luke said in his message that his sister had already bailed him out. I hope that the scenes I wrote and write for Luke and Lorelai show how much they care for each other, despite being in relationships with other people.

This story is JavaJunkie all the way, so trust me that I'll get there. How fun would the TV show have been if Luke and Lorelai had gotten together in the pilot? OK, enough with the talking, please read and if you're in the mood, leave me a review so that I can see if you're all still out there. One last thing: A big shoutout to my beta **junienmomo**, whose help and support mean the world to me.

_**Previously:**_

**_"I beat up some guy's car. Not just some guy's. The guy my wife is sleeping with", he said. "I'm really scared to have caught something. She's on the pill, you know, and I don't know, God, I hope they used a condom."_**

**_"I kinda have a similar problem with my boyfriend. Jason. That's his name. We've been dating for almost five months, and he has never spent the night at my place. I want to have some intimacy. I really appreciate that he wants me in his life, I, um, I'm just not sure he wants to be in mine."_**

**_"Is it my fault? With Nicole, is it my fault that she..."_**

**_"Luke, no", she said calmly. "You don't deserve this, you're a great man."_**

**_"But I could have tried harder, right, I could have tried harder?"_**

**_"Maybe. But in relationships, both parties are to blame. I think with Jason and I, I should have said something. I don't think I ever told him how it makes me feel to see that he doesn't really want to be in my life."_**

**_"No offense, Lorelai, but the guy left you alone without saying goodbye after sleeping with you. I may be a lousy husband, and rarely stay over at our house, but when I go there, I stay there."_**

* * *

**Chapter Four: 4 Conversations**

It had been a busy ten days. Lorelai could almost sleep at the Dragonfly Inn, because she spent so much time there. But finally, everything was coming together. Sookie was very antsy: soon she would have a professional kitchen again, and there were so many recipes she was dying to try out before the opening of the inn and the test run they were planning on having before that.

For Luke however, the ten days had been hell. He had been tested for STDs at the Stars Hollow Clinic, and had been waiting for the results. He had been avoiding Nicole, ignored her calls, and wasn't sure how he'd like things to turn out. Could he forgive her for cheating on him? And if he was able to do that, could he forget it eventually? That had always been the problem with Rachel. He forgave her countless times, but he never could truly forget how she had left him so many times.

Now, he sat on Lorelai's porch steps. He had paced the lawn, then the porch, before he decided it was better to sit down, maybe that could calm him down a little. When the jeep finally pulled up, he released the breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

"Hey, did we have a date? Did I stand you up without knowing?", she asked as she walked towards him.

Luke smiled. "No, I've been waiting for you actually. To tell you something."

"Oh?", she said and sat down next to him. Wordlessly, he gave her a beer, and grabbed one for himself.

"Yeah, the clinic called earlier. I gave Caesar the evening off, and started cleaning the kitchen", Luke explained.

"Oh God, you caught something, didn't you? Come here", Lorelai said and pulled him close for a hug. She released him, took a big swig from her bottle, and exhaled loudly. "What are you gonna do now?"

"Lorelai, I'm clean. All the tests were negative", he replied calmly, but at the same time picked nervously on the label of his beer bottle with his thumbnail.

"Are you crazy? You scared the crap out of me!", she yelled while hitting him on the shoulder.

"Sorry", Luke said simply and gulped his beer.

"So, what are you gonna do now?", she asked.

He inhaled and exhaled audibly, then said, "I honestly don't know. I mean, I'm glad as hell that I'm clean, but what now? Do I confront her? Do I forgive her?"

"Whoa, you didn't tell her? Have you talked to her?"

"No. I didn't return her calls."

"Luke, you gotta tell her. Maybe she can clarify the situa-", she said before Luke interrupted her.

"What is there to clarify? She slept with someone else, maybe still does, while we're married. In our house."

"Maybe there's another way to look at it."

"What other way?", he asked angrily.

"Calm down, I didn't cheat on you, _she_ did", Lorelai defended herself.

"I know. Sorry. You were saying?"

"Are you absolutely sure he went in there with her?"

"Yes."

"And he's not her cousin, or brother, or colleague?"

"She's an only child, I don't know if she has a cousin, and since when do co-workers not have affairs?"

"True."

"So, do I forgive her?"

"Only you can answer that, Luke. You have to decide for yourself if what the two of you have is worth it. You've been married for almost a year, so you probably have been through some good, and some bad, luckily you haven't been through the "in sickness" part. So take a few days to clear your head. Then, tell her your decision. She deserves to know, Luke."

"I know. But this is hard", Luke said as he finished his beer.

"I know."

"You sound very, um, calm", he remarked.

"Well, I've done some thinking myself."

"And?"

"I wanna try and be with Jason."

"I thought you already were?"

"I am. But I decided to really be with him. A real relationship."

"I wish I had the thinking part already behind me."

"If nothing works, there's always the pro-con-list", Lorelai said with a broad smile.

* * *

After a sleepless night, Luke called Nicole. He knew this was gonna be hard. But there was no way around this, he had to talk to Nicole. He suggested they meet somewhere neutral, so he picked a café in Woodbridge. When he entered the building, she wasn't there yet. He sat down at a small table, and ordered a cup of tea. After ten minutes, she showed up.

"I'm so sorry, Luke. Traffic was... Let's just say I had a hard time getting here", she explained as she sat down across from him.

"It's OK", he said.

"I'm glad you called."

"Yeah, sorry it took me so long", Luke said, and it was weird that they were so apologetic and nice to each other. "Before you say anything, I want to say how sorry I am."

"You're sorry?", she said, clearly taken by surprise.

"Yes, I'm sorry I was so distant. Literally. I'm sorry I barely spent the night at our place, and I'm sorry I froze you out. But you have to understand. I know about him."

"Him? You know about him?", Nicole asked with knitted brows.

"Yes, I saw you", he admitted.

"Oh God, Luke, I'm so sorry. I was desperate. You were barely looking at me, let alone looking at me like you desire me in any way. I feel like shit."

"Believe me, I don't feel much better. In the name of full disclosure: I saw you both enter our house, I waited, but he never came out, so I beat up his car, was arrested, and my sister bailed me out. I got tested for STDs, all tests were negative by the way, and I'm ready to forgive you, on the condition that it is over between the two of you, and we work on our marriage", Luke declared, every word being hell for him to articulate.

"Luke, I never would have endangered your health. We were safe", she assured him, seeking eye contact.

"Good. Not the cheating part, but good."

"I feel so relieved. How do we proceed from here?", Nicole asked expectantly.

"I thought about this. A lot. And I only see one conclusion: I really move in with you", Luke said calmly, finally looking her in the eyes.

"You'd really do that?"

"Yes, I think I need to."

"You need to?"

"Yeah, I need to do this. For you, for us."

"I don't know what to say. Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Why this sudden change?"

"OK, I need you to stay calm and not freak out. I talked to Lorelai. Before you say anything, be assured that she and I are only friends. Good friends. We talk about stuff. And you have to be OK with this. She said something about her own relationship, and it made me think. I think I could have tried harder. So that's what I'll do. That includes really moving in with you."

"She's in a relationship?"

"She is. And they had some problems, the guy apparently is the world's biggest jerk, but it made me see that I was a jerk to you. To be honest, I don't know if I'll ever be fine with you cheating on me. But I have to try. I want this marriage to work. Hell, I want it to be a marriage in the first place."

"You don't think this is a marriage?"

"No, I don't. I don't have a big frame of reference. Basically just my sister's many failed marriages, and my parents'. And believe me, this marriage is nothing like theirs. They were happy, Nicole. I want that. I want what they had", Luke said with wet eyes.

"So, we're doing it? We're really moving in together, and you're fine with it? Early deliveries and everything?"

"Yeah, they have been an excuse anyway. Maybe I can talk to my bread guy, and he'll deliver in the evenings, or maybe I can persuade Caesar to work more morning shifts."

"That'd be nice. Come here", she said and kissed him.

* * *

Her nervousness aside, Lorelai felt good, and excited to talk with Jason. She wore her favorite skirt, and a turquoise-colored blouse with a deep v-neck. This was going to be the first time she'd use the key to his apartment. She rummaged through her purse, and with a victorious "Ha!", she took it out. She opened the door, and cautiously entered the apartment.

"Jason?", she asked. "Are you here?"

"Lorelai? I'm upstairs", he yelled. "I'll be down in a minute."

Lorelai sat on the couch. The last time she had sat there was when she had asked him for the 30,000$. She hoped that this conversation would run just as smoothly. When he finally came downstairs, he gave her a peck on the lips, and she asked him to sit with her. Like she could read his mind, Lorelai said, "Don't worry, I'm not here to ask you for money again." He smiled.

"But I need to discuss something with you", she stated.

"Shoot."

"OK, this requires a little background information. When I was engaged, I couldn't-"

"You were engaged?", he interrupted her.

"Yes."

"When?", Jason asked with eyes wide open.

"Like three years ago. His name was Max, and he was Rory's English teacher. But it was all too soon, and I wasn't ready. So I called the wedding off a couple of days before it was supposed to take place."

"You left him at the altar?", Jason wanted to know.

"Technically, no. But it didn't come so sudden as people thought. First of all, I'd do everything differently."

"Like what?", he asked.

"We hadn't moved in together, that was supposed to happen with the wedding. But the thing is, I couldn't bring myself to have the keys duplicated. I just couldn't. I remember standing in line, and right before it was my turn, I just left. I only made room in my closet because Rory pushed me, and helped me do it. Then, when he was about to spend his first night at our house, I couldn't sleep. I went downstairs and slept in Rory's bed."

"With her in the bed at the same time?"

"Yes. But she only let me do it for ten minutes. She fell back asleep, and so did I. So, I slept in her bed the entire night. Luckily, I woke up before he did, and went to the kitchen to make coffee. He never knew I didn't sleep in the bed next to him."

"I think I see where this is going..."

"Jason, I just want to know if you're unable to sleep in one bed with me because deep down you know that this", she said as she motioned with her finger back and forth between the two, "isn't working."

"No, Lorelai, this isn't like that."

"Because, frankly, I'm too old to be just having casual relationships. And I myself know what it feels like to be avoiding things, believe me, I'm the master, I learned from the best."

"I can assure you it's not like that. I did make you a key after all", he said and smiled genuinely. He took her hand, and squeezed it assuringly.

"Yes, you did", Lorelai smiled back. "So I'd like to try again, and I'd like you to spend the night at my place. And not leave me in the middle of the night, like I'm a prostitute", she joked, knowing very well that there was more truth to that statement than she cared to admit.

Jason was a bit shocked. "Geez, that's not what I intended, Lorelai. Please believe me."

"I do. And I plan on getting you tired like you've never been before", she said as she wiggled her eyebrows.

"I like that idea."

"And I want us to tell my parents about us", she finally said.

"You do? Really?", he asked expectantly. She nodded with a bright smile and hugged him.

"Yeah, why not. If I'm properly informed, your parents will be at the dinner as well, so why not make it official?!"

"That's what you really want to do? Tell your parents, and mine at the same time?"

"Yes. And if you don't mind, I'd like to drive back to Stars Hollow with you after dinner tonight, and you try to spend the night", Lorelai suggested.

"What can I say? Yes, I'd like that."

"Good."

"But what if - and that's a big if - what if I can't sleep in the same bed as you?"

"We'll deal with that if that'll be the case. I have many ways of persuasion", she assured him.

And with that, Jason packed a few things for the night, and they were off to dinner.

* * *

The next morning, Lorelai entered a very crowded Luke's later than usual. She sat down on the stool right next to the cash register, and put her purse on the counter.

"Morning, Luke!", she sing-sanged.

"Hey, you're in a good mood", he remarked as he automatically put a cup in front of her and poured the steaming brew into it.

"What can I say? I had a great dinner, excellent company, and got a good night's sleep. What more can a girl want?"

"To quote you: A shitload of Jimmy Choos, and Bono putting them on your feet", he deadpanned.

"Well, one can't have everything."

"What can I get ya?", Luke asked.

"Jack omelet, side of bacon. With extra bacon."

"Coming right up", he said as he turned around to give Caesar the order.

"Oh, speaking of which", Lorelai said as she took a big gulp of coffee, "Did you get around to making the list of meat suppliers? I was just at Sookie's and she asked about it."

"Yeah, I left it upstairs. I'll get it later, the place is packed, and I have to make the rounds with the coffee pot", he said, motioning with his head over the occupied tables.

"Mind if I go upstairs and get it myself?"

"Not at all, it's on the kitchen table. I have to-", he said, and grabbed the pot to refill the cups of the other patrons.

Lorelai got up, and walked to the curtain, quickly pushing it aside. Entering the apartment through the frosted door, she noticed the sheet of paper on the table, and went there to pick it up. She scanned the list, and a smile crept to her face when she took a closer look at Luke's handwriting. It was unmistakably a man's handwriting, everything very straight, clear, and without embellishment. Out of the corner of her eye, Lorelai noticed that the apartment was lighter than normally. She looked to her right, and saw that the big brown leather sofa was gone, as was the armchair and coffee table.

Unable to digest the sight, she heard someone climb the stairs. She turned around and saw Luke standing in the doorframe, then looked back to the windows.

"Lorelai, your food's ready in a minute", he said, then followed her gaze, adding, "So, you saw it", he half-asked.

"The giant gap between the window and the kitchen table? Yes, I saw it. What's that about? Finally read the Feng Shui book I gave you for Christmas last year?", she joked.

"I moved. For real this time. Nicole suggested that I have a study in our house. A place to retreat. I put my trophies there, too."

Lorelai's gaze went to the shelf on the dwarf partition that separated the bedroom from the entryway and found it empty. That emptiness reflected in her eyes, and Luke immediately picked up on it. For once, Lorelai Gilmore was speechless.

"How fast can you find movers to take all your stuff?", she asked.

"Listen, Lorelai", Luke started, "I had to do this, I want to give my marriage a chance to survive. I can't be living here, and pretend it's normal, or working for Nicole and I. So I moved my stuff."

"Luke, it's fine. I was just taken by surprise. I'm happy for you. I know how much you want this to work, and I'm glad you do everything in your power."

"You're sure?", he asked, deep down expecting her to yell at him.

"Why wouldn't I be? We all have to make sacrifices. Take me for example. I agreed to tell my parents about Jason and our relationship."

"I'm glad you understand. I was afraid you'd stop talking to me, and it would take another break and enter at the church until we were fine again."

"Don't worry, we're fine. I just have to get used to this", Lorelai assured him.

"Come on, let's go downstairs, your food's getting cold."

They went back to the diner, and though Lorelai's words sounded genuine, her eyes looked sad, and Luke knew this was gonna be just as hard for her as it was for him.

* * *

**Alright, now that the conversations are over, I'll be going back to my usual kind of writing. But I considered it necessary to have those conversations with Nicole/Luke and Lorelai/Jason, and I thought it'd be fun to have them sandwiched between the conversations of our favorite couple. Have a great weekend everyone, and be nice and leave me a review. **


	5. Chapter Five: To Float Or Not To Float

**AN:** I own the DVDs, and nothing else. Not even a Luke's mug, but hey, maybe I'll get one for my birthday this year... Thanks to all the readers and reviewers, you're the best! A big, fat thank you goes to my lovely beta** junienmomo. **You're a constant source of inspiration, your notes are always helpful, you rock!

**_Previously:_**

_"I want us to tell my parents about us", Lorelai said._

* * *

**Chapter Five: To Float Or Not To Float**

"Mom, please believe me that tonight was gonna be the night we would tell you", Lorelai begged.

Emily hesitated, then looked her daughter in the eyes. "We both know that it's not true, and there is no way you could prove it. Just let me say this: I'm very disappointed in you. But I'm hardly surprised. If I made a list of all the things you have done in your life you chose not to tell your own mother about, it would be long enough for you to walk back to Stars Hollow on."

"This isn't fair", Lorelai said, defeated.

"Fair? You want to talk about fair? After all those years where I thought our relationship would improve, you consider it fair that you left me out of your life again?", Emily said while raising her voice.

"And why do you think that is? I'm terrified to share things with you because you have a tendency to spoil everything for me!", she yelled back. "I wonder why you can't just be happy for me", Lorelai added in a sadder tone.

"How would you know that I hadn't been happy for you?", Emily challenged her.

"Because a few weeks back, when I again had decided to tell you about Jason and me, you made it very clear that you didn't like him. How could you be happy for me when you don't approve of the man I'm in a relationship with?", Lorelai asked, having Emily's mocking laughter from then still in her head.

"Don't be ridiculous, Lorelai! Of course I would have been happy for you and Jason, he's one of us."

"Exactly! After that Booster Club fashion show a couple of years ago, you said something that's still on my mind."

"And what would that be?", Emily asked, knowing very well what Lorelai was referring to.

"You said how well I fit into the world I wanted to get out of. Jason is part of that world, but he's also funny, and quirky, and off-center. I didn't want to give you the satisfaction, simply because he's from your world. He's so much more than that, mom", Lorelai pointed out.

Emily was silent for a while. "I'm aware that you always will do what you want, Lorelai. I've given up on couples tennis matches and bridge evenings a long time ago. I was only hoping that you'd be more open, and let me in. These Friday Night Dinners mean nothing to you, and I know that as bizarre as it might sound, they don't mean you let me participate in your life, nor do they assure that you share the most basic information about your life."

Lorelai felt like the world's biggest hypocrite in that moment. Her mother had just accused her of something she herself had accused Luke of a few months back. His not sharing that he had supposedly moved to Litchfield.

"Mom, I think I should go now. Let me just say this. You may not believe me, but I know exactly how you feel. And I'm sorry. You're right. I can't prove that we were gonna tell you tonight. But you can't prove that we weren't either. Let's talk about this some other time. This night has been a lot. Let's digest everything, and sleep on it. I'll call you in a couple of days", Lorelai assured her.

"Alright, Lorelai. You're right. Let's calm down before we discuss this. This time is tough for me, a little time would do me good. Good night."

And with that, Lorelai left her parents' house to go home with Jason.

* * *

When everything calmed down within a couple of days, Lorelai found herself in limbo. She couldn't find the courage to talk to her mother again, and had a weird feeling in her gut whenever she thought about it. In spite of her never-ending to-do-list she thought about it quite often. With a fork she picked and poked her pancakes from one side of the plate to the other, her eyes fixed on the gazebo.

"Something wrong with the food?", Luke's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Huh?", she asked distractedly.

"Are the pancakes OK?", he asked again.

"Fine", Lorelai told him unconvincingly.

"Yeah, I put some lead paint in the batter this morning."

"Great", she said, her eyes and mind still miles away.

"I thought it might bring out the flavor of the blueberries."

"Hmmm. Sound delicious."

"More coffee?", he asked.

"Yes", she replied, still not looking at him.

"Added a little arsenic, thought I'd try something new."

"Super."

Luke rolled his eyes, and exhaled loudly. Then he sat down across from her, giving her no choice than to look at him.

"Lorelai, are you OK?"

"Why wouldn't I be?", she asked, finally looking him in the eyes.

"Because unless you want an earlier death than the unhealthy crap you normally eat will undoubtedly cause, you wouldn't touch the pancakes or drink the coffee if I really had put that stuff in", he explained.

"What stuff? Oh no! Did you give me decaf again? I swear, Luke, if you try it one more time, I won't be coming in the diner again. Ever. Danish day or not, I'll stay away. How could I not have tasted it's decaf? Something is seriously wrong with me, I've lost my mojo."

"Calm down, it's regular coffee", he assured her.

"Now you're insulting your own product? Nothing is regular about this coffee, mister. It's the heavenly brew you brought to perfection. It's little black drops of the holy grail, it's aside from Rory's existence the only reason I get up in the morning, it's the sweet nectar of life, my friend."

"Are you alright? You seem... distant, and nuttier than usual."

"It's my mother."

"Cut your allowance again?", Luke teased.

"You're spending too much time with Kirk."

"Don't I know it. So, what's the matter?", he asked.

"My mother's mad at me or something. I couldn't tell my parents about Jason and me, because they already knew. Jason's dad had a PI following him, so he knew, and he told my parents. Ironically, he did it the night when we were about to tell them. Now, my mother doesn't believe me that we planned on telling them, and ugh, I don't know. I have a million things to do before the inn opens, and I just can't stop thinking about my mother, how crazy is that?"

"Not that crazy. She's your mother. You only get one set of parents", Luke said and then fell silent.

Lorelai didn't know how to react to that. In all those years she knew Luke, she had shared everything about her parents with him. And not seldomly, she had felt a tad bad about herself for even mentioning to him, a man who had been an half-orphan all his adolescent life.

"I'm sorry, Luke."

"It's OK", he said.

"Do you miss them?", Lorelai asked hesitantly, but seeking eye contact.

"Every day", he quickly said. "Mostly my dad, though. I lost him in my mid-twenties. So I got to know him when I was an adult. I hadn't hit puberty yet when my mom died. I remember certain things about her. Sometimes it's when a customer laughs like she used to, or when someone wears jasmine perfume like she did. When you're a kid, you love your parents unconditionally, no matter how good or bad a parent they are, simply because you don't know it any differently. When you grow up, you see the person behind the parent, and you see their flaws. With my mom, I never got to see that. I guess I've been idealizing her one way or the other. I wish I had known her as an adult. You know, ask her opinion when you have a crush on a girl, have a real conversation, and not just memories of her yelling at you because you didn't enter the house through the mud room."

Listening closely to Luke's trip down memory lane, Lorelai started to eat her pancakes, and smiled at his last statement. She put her hand on his, and squeezed it gently.

"Thanks, Luke", Lorelai said. "I know you don't share much about them."

"Yeah. But sometimes it's good to remember, right?"

"Right. OK, I think I better leave. We still don't have doors at the inn, and I have to have a serious talk with the carpenter. The first group of travel agents will come by the inn later today, and we don't want to make them think we're planning a nudist commune in the woods of Stars Hollow."

Lorelai paid for her breakfast, and drove to the inn. The paving of the street there still wasn't done, so she stood at the traffic lights for one and a half eternities. She was wondering if her relationship to her mother would have been any different if she hadn't left home at this young age. Luke did have a point. One's perception of one's parents changes throughout the years. She could recall a time when she admired her father, and aspired to be just like him. She even took his Yale diploma from his study and hung it in her own room where it stayed for months. Then, Lorelai must have been Luke's age when he lost his mother.

She pondered the thought. If she excluded all the experiences with her dad after that time, she would have had a completely different picture of him. A proud father, sure that his little girl wouldn't be the princess Emily wanted her to be, but a businesswoman with academic background. Aside from the latter, she was on her way to achieve just that. Sure, she took a little detour, but she was getting there. Plus, she had Rory, so it was worth the detour. Lorelai wondered if the reason for the bad relationship with her mother was because Emily never got to know her as an adult. She still saw her as a rebellious teenage mother.

Lorelai's delight in the fun things in life didn't exactly help to convince her mother that she was grown up. Between the Hello Kitty alarm clock, the Betty Boop vase, and the Pop-Tarts for breakfast, Lorelai could be mistaken for a teenager. The truth was that when she actually was a teenager, she was never allowed to own or eat the things she wanted. Emily always made sure that Lorelai was an adult in the body of a teenager. So when Lorelai was on her own, she wanted to make up for the lost time.

Maybe now was the time to make up for lost time with her mother. The traffic lights turned green, and she started the engine.

* * *

Lorelai had a déjà-vu. Just like the last time she had talked to her grandmother, and everything went off script, she now was in a similar situation. How could this always happen to her? First Jason's dad threatened to sue Richard and Jason, then Richard bad-mouthed Jason, and went back to his old company, giving Jason no other choice than to consider moving. Even begging her father to reconsider his plans didn't change a thing. Now her mother was living in a hotel? Lorelai had never felt this powerless, and overstrained in her life. She felt like life was playing one hell of a joke, trying to see if she could cope with everything, or if she caved and pulled a Sylvia Plath.

Telling Jason everything about it helped a little to get it off her chest, but Lorelai was as confused as she was before.

"And I'm not supposed to know, and of course we won't talk about it, because we don't do that in our family. We repress everything, and we refuse to go to therapy, because why tell a stranger your problems, when you can use them to punish those around you? So, what now? Every Friday I'm supposed to pretend that they still live together, and then after we leave, my mother will get in her car and drive back to the hotel? The hotel. My mother's living in a hotel. It's weird. It's just incredibly weird", Lorelai said and sighed. "I'm sorry. I just needed to vent."

"You have every right", Jason assured her.

"I'm done now. There's nothing I can do about them, so... Talk to me. You were gonna tell me something."

"I'm suing your father. I have to, Lorelai."

"No, you don't."

"I've gone over it. I've weighed every option. I have to respond. I cannot just sit here and do nothing when my entire career is going up in flames", he defended himself.

"Jason, please. Don't do this."

"Maybe it won't be so bad. Maybe he'll settle."

"He won't settle", she said determinedly.

"It's just business."

"Oh, my God. I'm so sick of hearing people say that", Lorelai said.

"The timing of this is awkward. I have just made an investment, and I won't see any money for years. My car and apartment are paid for. But I have to live. I can limit myself, but I still need _some_ money. You know I wouldn't do this if I didn't have to", he explained.

"You don't have to."

"If I intend to continue working in my chosen profession, then, yeah, I have to."

Lorelai thought for a moment. Why did everything have to be so complicated? She had enough on her plate as it is, now her boyfriend was gonna sue her father?

"What if you took more time?", she asked.

"What do you mean?", he wondered.

"I mean, what if you took time for the dust to settle, and then retry. Everything will blow over in a few months."

"Well, I don't have time. And even if I had time, how do you suggest I could persuade even one client to come back to me?"

"You've done it before, Jason. You can do it again. And about the time... What if I gave you the money back, how long could you float?"

"Float?", he asked with knitted brows.

"The $30,000 could certainly buy you some time, right? I don't want you to move, Jason."

"I don't _wanna_ move."

"OK, good", Lorelai said and smiled as much as the situation allowed.

"How do you propose to get the money anyway?", Jason wanted to know.

"I don't have many options, but let me try to get it you the money, and we'll see, OK?"

"I'd like that."

* * *

Determined to save her relationship with her boyfriend, Lorelai swallowed her pride, and decided to ask the only person who could give her the $30,000 within hours. She was a Gilmore, so she already had a plan. Of course, Lorelai's plan didn't include secret lunches, or carbon copies of letters who would leave destructed families in their wake. She blew out a breath, and knocked on the door. It opened after a little while.

"Lorelai?"

"Hi mom, how are you?", Lorelai asked innocently. "Can I come in?"

"How did you find me?", Emily asked.

"Do you really want to discuss this in the hallway?"

Emily shook her head and Lorelai entered the tastefully furnished suite.

"Can I offer you something to drink?", Emily asked after regaining control of her facial muscles.

"Not at the moment", Lorelai said and sat down on an armchair. Her mother sat across from her.

"So, how did you find me?"

"I'm here to talk to you, mom."

"I'm listening."

"You remember my friend Luke? He said something to me the other day. He lost his mother when he was only ten, and he told me he wished he had known her as an adult, because one's perception changes over the years. You grow up, and you don't see your parents the way you used to see them. And it made me think. I don't think we ever got over that adult-child-relationship, and I want to change that. I've treated Rory as an adult since she started school, and God knows, sometimes she was the mom, and I was the kid.

"I want us to develop a relationship as two grown women, and we have to start to be honest with each other. Yes, I'm aware of the hypocrisy factor here, I lied to you about Jason, but I want that to stop. I want us to be able to talk about things. I want to know what happened between you and dad, and I want to tell you things from my life. So I'll start. Gran was right. Sookie and I were in deep financial trouble, and originally, I wanted to ask Luke for the money, but I couldn't do it, so I asked Jason, and he gave it to me. If it weren't for him, we wouldn't be able to open the inn. But now he's in trouble, and I talked him out of suing dad, but Jason's reputation's gone, and he needs the money to float for a few months. He needs to plan his next step, or he would have to move. And I don't want that, mom. I really want him to stay. So, I'm asking you for the money, and I know that you will want something in return. And I have already thought of something. As an investor of the inn, I'd like to suggest a weekly lunch at the inn, you can pick the day, because I'll be there 24/7 for the next months anyway. What do you say?"

"Do you love him?", Emily asked coolly.

"Jason? I don't know. I like our relationship, and we've both made sacrifices, and developed together, I enjoy being with him. A lot."

"I mean Luke."

"What?", Lorelai squealed.

"Don't sound so surprised. You just said you wanted him to loan you the money, and you talk with him about his dead mother."

"He's married."

"Who is?"

"Luke."

"Luke's married?", Emily asked.

"Yeah, for almost a year. She's a lawyer. Blonde. Skinny. Her name's Nicole. They live in a townhouse in Litchfield", Lorelai explained.

"I didn't know that."

"Mom? What happened between you and dad?", Lorelai asked, desperate for a topic change.

"I overheard the conversation between you and your father. I heard what he said to you. I wanted him to go easy on Jason. I didn't want to lose you again, Lorelai. But he refused. Just like he refuses to shave off that ridiculous mustache. He changed so much this year. I don't know if you know this, but Richard agreed to go into business with Jason simply because they wanted to get back at Floyd. Whatever happened to family loyalty? The Richard I married never would have done something like that. Or at least, that's what I thought then, before I learned about his lunches with Pennilyn Lott. So I moved out", Emily explained.

"Oh", Lorelai said and reached out to her mother's hand. She softly put her hand on her mother's, and looked at her. "I'm sorry, mom. And thank you."

"You're welcome", Emily said and gave her the faintest smile. "And I accept your business proposal. I'll give you the money, I should have offered it when your grandmother mentioned it. A woman shouldn't accept money from a man she's not married to. It gives the wrong impression. Would Tuesdays work for you? For our weekly lunch?"

"Yes, Tuesdays are perfect. Thank you, mom."

"How much do you need?", Emily asked.

"$30,000."

"Very well, I'll call the bank in a minute, so you can have it by tomorrow."

"Can the phone call wait a little longer?"

"Certainly, what do you need?"

"I'd take that drink now."

"What can I get you?"

"How about Scotch for the both of us to seal our business deal?"

Thus, the two elder Gilmore girls sat and drank Scotch, and talked about the inn for a while. For once, Lorelai felt that everything was going back to normal. The pressure was gradually going away. Hopefully, their relationship was not going back to normal, but to a new normal.

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I know, not so much JavaJunkie this time, but I think on the way to get them together, I need Lorelai to improve her relationship with her mother. I promise the next update won't take so long. It's just that writing in a hundred degree weather isn't particularly high on my to-do-list. Reviewers are my favorite readers!**


	6. Chapter Six: You Learn Something New Eve

**AN: Hi, my beloved readers, reviewers, and followers! I'm sorry this chapter is so short, and it's also kind of a filler, but I hope you like it anyway. Just to give you a heads up: This is a JJ story, even if I hide the fact from time to time. Be patient with me, I promise I'll get there. I just like to toy with the characters, as well as with my readers. **

**A big shoutout to my wonderful beta _junienmomo_, and I guess to all the great writers among you, who are my inspiration. I know I'm not as good as you, but I still try to be. **

* * *

**Chapter Six: You Learn Something New Every Day**

For Lorelai, this was the most exhausting, yet most exciting time at the same time. Things at the inn were finally looking good, like they would soon have guests. Sookie was cooking again, hiring cooks for her staff, Michel freaking out when people who applied didn't have ten references. Unfortunately, she didn't see much of Jason, but soon Rory would be done with finals, and she'd come home for the summer.

She was dying to know how things with Luke and Nicole were developing, but her trips to the diner were always quick, just a coffee to go, because Sookie was usually making breakfast at the inn for the crew and Tom's men. Lorelai was trying not to spend too much money on things she could get for free, and she was only making once exception: Luke's coffee. It was a must for every day. Though the blends Sookie had ordered were good, Lorelai needed Luke's coffee, maybe as a substitute for Luke's company.

With a sheet of paper with directions on her passenger seat and the largest to go cup of coffee from Luke's in her left hand, Lorelai drove to New York to finally pick up the linens for the inn. Five hours and two subpar cups of coffee later, she was balancing the last two boxes in her hands on her way to her car that was hopefully parked two blocks away.

"Lorelai?"

This was weird. She knew nobody in New York. She turned around, and was flabbergasted to see Luke in front of her.

"What are you doing here?", she asked with eyes as big as saucers.

He immediately took her boxes, and replied, "I'm here to see Jess. What are _you_ doing here?"

"Oh, I'm just checking out where Rachel, Monica, Joey and Chandler live. I'm dying to try the coffee at Central Perk, though Gunther is not exactly my type", she said nonchalantly.

"You really are a piece of work!", he said with raised eyebrows.

"I picked up linens and tablecloths for the inn. Wait, did you say Jess? Isn't he in California?", she asked.

"Used to be. He came back a few months ago, and I'm here to persuade him to come to Liz' wedding."

"Liz is getting married?"

"That's the rumor", he deadpanned.

"Here in New York?", Lorelai asked, still not able to digest the information and Luke's presence.

"No, in Stars Hollow. In the town square. Next week."

"Luke! No monosyllables when you tell me big, important news!", she demanded.

"Sorry. Where's your car?"

"East 4th street and Avenue A, I hope."

"That's in Jess' neighborhood. I'll walk you", he said and led the way.

"How weird to see you in New York. I never thought I'd see you outside of Connecticut, hell or even outside a 50 mile radius from Stars Hollow. It's almost like seeing my mother in sweats."

"I had lunch with Nicole, and thought I'd try and see Jess. I don't know if he's coming to the wedding. But that's what you're supposed to do, right?"

"I guess. But not if he really doesn't want to. I mean, couldn't he ruin things at the ceremony?", Lorelai wondered.

"It's a Renaissance wedding, so that's impossible", Luke said mockingly.

"Luke! She's your sister!", Lorelai replied digustedly.

"Marrying a guy with an etch-a-sketch!"

"We can't really choose who we fall in love with."

"Clearly. But we can choose who we marry", Luke said with a bitterness in his voice that made Lorelai shudder.

"Looks like we're here", Lorelai remarked as she spotted her Jeep.

Luke helped her pile the boxes on top of the other ones that already sat in her trunk.

"So, I guess we'll see each other back home", he said.

The sentence sounded weird to Lorelai, good weird.

"Yeah, I'll just grab a cup of coffee before I drive back", she said and let her eyes wander around the street.

"OK, bye then", Luke nodded and walked down the street.

It was only then that Lorelai realized he wasn't wearing his hat, and was flannel-less.

"Makes sense", she said to herself, and crossed the street to get to the coffee shop she had spotted. Though she had to admit to herself that Luke was looking very nice in his dark blue dress shirt and black slacks, it was somewhat unfamiliar, and Lorelai swore he even walked differently. She pushed the thought away, and her brain sent her inside the coffee shop.

The plan was to buy coffee, and then go back home, but the heavenly scent of pie forced her to eat a piece. Or three. As Lorelai licked the fork clean, and made a cost-benefit calculation in her head whether it would be worth it to come here on a weekly basis, someone tapped on her shoulder.

"Are you cheating on me?", Luke asked with a smile.

"Luke! Are you stalking me?", Lorelai wanted to know with a shocked expression on her face.

"Hardly. I saw your Jeep still parked outside, and this is the closest coffee shop. How many slices of pie did you exactly have?", he half-asked himself.

"Three. Apple, because that's the classic, boysenberry, because that's my favorite, and chocolate, because you never say no to chocolate."

"Speak for yourself", Luke said and made a face.

"Come one, Luke, try it. It's delicious."

"No way!", he declined.

"Killjoy!", she said with a pout. "What if you order a piece, and if you really don't like it, I'll eat the rest?", she suggested.

"Fine", Luke gave in.

A few minutes later the waitress brought a piece of chocolate pie, and Lorelai couldn't recall a time she was more curious as to what would happen. It was the excitement on a Christmas morning mixed with the breath she usually holds at a town meeting when a certain town selectman was about to propose something very bizarre. She couldn't tear her eyes off of him. Luke and a piece of chocolate pie. It was almost like giving a baby its first bath. All bets were off, no one could predict what would happen.

"Just dig in already!", Lorelai said, losing her patience.

"Alright", Luke answered, annoyed.

"Can I feed you?", she asked.

"No. Are you crazy?", Luke said and gave her a puzzled look.

"I thought we've already established that."

"Why would you even suggest such a thing?"

"I don't know. How do I know you're not cheating?", she asked.

"You're sitting right in front of me! What am I gonna do with the pie? Spit it into a napkin without you noticing?", he wanted to know, the level of craziness to her question still visible in his facial expression.

"Of course! That's what Rory and I have been doing for the last four years at Friday Night Dinner at my parents' house. I mean, how else would we have gotten rid of the chicken Kiev and the baklava?", she asked as if her logic would be apparent to anybody.

"How is it possible nobody has ever sent you to a shrink?"

"How is it possible that this piece of chocolate pie is still on that plate instead of in your stomach?", she asked back.

Without any further comments, Luke took a bite of the pie. Lorelai watched him closely. He closed his eyes, and chewed visibly slowly, almost as if he was enjoying it. She had never seen him like that. She always assumed besides baseball and fishing, there weren't many things Luke enjoyed. Yet, here he sat right in front of her, enjoying a piece of pie. In New York City. Without flannel shirt and baseball cap. He took another bite, and then pushed the plate over to Lorelai, who looked at him like _he_ was the crazy person.

"Luke! You're not finishing it?"

"That was the deal, wasn't it?", he said coolly.

"Excuse me, but first of all you looked like you were really liking the pie, and now you're saying you don't like it?"

"I never said that. I liked the pie."

"You had your eyes closed the entire time you were eating it. You looked like you had a freaking culinary orgasm!", she squealed.

Her last statement made him blush.

"Lorelai! Lower your voice!", he hissed. "I was not having a culinary... whatever. I was just trying to taste the pie, try to figure out the spice they used", he defended himself, as he shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

"So, what did they use?"

"First I thought I tasted nutmeg, but then maybe clove. Now I'm sure it's cardamom."

"And I thought only Sookie was able to do that. Now that I think about it, do you think people who love to cook entered my life coincidentally, or is it some cosmic thing, and the universe sent you two to feed me?"

Luke totally ignored her, and said, "Just eat the pie". He got up to get her a new fork, but when he sat back down, she had already used his. His own wife wouldn't even drink from the same glass.

"You took _my_ fork? Then why did I get up and brought you this one?", Luke asked.

"It was right there. Why would I wait for you?"

Luke cringed a little at her last question, since it was something he had been thinking for years. Long years of seeing Lorelai on a daily basis, wondering when she would turn around and see him like he saw her.

"Now all my germs are in your mouth", he explained.

"So? It also happens when people kiss. Since when are your the health police? Because I recall bricks and debris falling from the ceiling of your diner two years ago, and you didn't seem to be bothered by all the health code violations back then."

"That's two different things."

"How?", Lorelai asked.

"Because they are", he replied, angry at himself for even bringing up the subject.

"That's so not an answer!"

"Look, I was just surprised to see you had no inhibition threshold when it comes to me."

"Or to pie. We have known each other for years, why would I be disgusted by you? You're my friend, Luke", Lorelai said sincerely.

"Nicole would have insisted I got her a new fork. And I'm in a relationship with her. We're married."

"Thanks for the news flash, Tom", she joked.

Luke just grunted at her last comment. How could two women he was attracted to be so different?

"If it bothers you, I promise not to do it again, OK?", she offered with a smile

"Thanks. Though I doubt we'd ever be in a similar situation again."

Lorelai let the subject go, and finished her pie. They talked for a little while, and both drove back to Stars Hollow. Lorelai brought the linens to the inn, where Sookie and Michel were snatching the boxes away from her to examine the colors, patterns, and quality of fabric. Lorelai watched the scene, and felt deeply soothed.

* * *

Her next days were spent with sewing pillow cases, worrying about the test run, and for the first time checking more things off her to-do-list than she was adding. The next Sunday, she was anxious to show her mother, who was now an investor, the progress and the nearly finished inn. She led her through the kitchen, dining room, library, a few guestrooms, and of course the honeymoon suite, which was actually a cabin with a separate entrance.

"Well, what do you say, mom?", Lorelai asked, waiting to hear a praise.

"Besides from the lack of doors, I must say you have created a very charming inn, Lorelai", Emily nodded in approval.

"Thanks, mom. I'm glad you like it. Come here, I want to show you something", the daughter said and led the way to the front desk.

Lorelai held a postcard and some stationery in front of mother's face, and waited for a response.

"What are you doing, Lorelai?" Emily asked.

"Do you like it? We want to put these in the rooms, but I'm not sure if I like the design, so I'm asking you what you think of them?"

"You ask my opinion about the postcards and stationery?", Emily asked disbelievingly.

"Yeah, I mean I would have asked you other things, but all the other decisions are pretty much made, this is one of the things I still have to OK, so I thought I'd ask you because you have good taste", Lorelai explained, still waving the paper in front of Emily.

Emily let the comment sink in, before she replied. "They look lovely."

Both women smiled at each other.

"Come on, let's see what recipe Sookie's trying out today", Lorelai suggested. She put the stationery on the front desk, took her mother's hand, and walked into the kitchen.

The three women tasted the cookies Sookie had baked, and chatted a little before Emily left. After four more hours, Lorelai was too tired to see straight, so she called it a night, and dragged her exhausted body to her car. She took her usual route through the town square, and then remembered that it was Liz' wedding and everything was blocked. She did a u-turn in front of Doose's, and just as she was about to drive off, she spotted Luke dancing with Nicole to a slow song. _Luke can waltz? _Lorelai again couldn't tear her eyes away from him. Nicole's head was leaning against his chest, and she looked happy, they both did. So she was actually getting an answer to her question about their relationship status. A question, she never dared to ask him when they were sharing a piece of pie and exchanging germs.

She felt a pang of jealousy in her heart, and she knew that her exhaustion was just giving way to nervousness. Lorelai rummaged through her purse, and took her cell phone out. She quickly dialled Jason's number.

"Pick up, pick up, pick, up!", she demanded desperately.

"This is Jason."

"Hi, it's me. Did I wake you? I know it's late, but you don't have to work tomorrow, or in the near future. Sorry, bad joke. So I thought, maybe you'd wanna come over, and spend the night at my place. If it's not too much of an inconvenience to you."

"Sure, I'll come over. Are you gonna do that thing you did last time, to make sure I would be able to sleep?", he asked cockily, and Lorelai could literally hear he was smirking.

"Maybe", she said and smiled, and drove back to the crap shack.

* * *

**OK, now I'll roll into the fetal position and wait to be tarred and feathered. Be nice and leave me a review (she said, and knew it was a mistake :-))! Have a great week(end)!**


	7. Chapter Seven: Mothers, Daughters, and F

**AN:** Hi everyone! I hope you all are doing OK. I want to thank all of you who have reviewed, followed, and faved this story. It really means a lot to me, especially because this story is an experiment. A big thank you goes to my lovely beta **_junienmomo_**, you rock! Now enjoy the chapter, it's my longest in this story so far.

* * *

Chapter Seven: Mothers, Daughters, and Friends

"... and Sookie and I want to thank you all so much for volunteering for this weekend, for this test run, and we hope you will let us know how little we're doing right, and how much we're doing wrong. For our professional success we need you to be your most critical selves, and not the lovely, supportive people we know you really are. I want to thank the great women who inspire me daily, most of all my mother Emily, who taught me a lot when it comes to delegating, and Mia, who showed me everything I know in the hotel business. My daughter Rory who has always encouraged me to open an own inn. My friend Luke, well, he's not a woman, but have you seen his curtains? Anyhow, he can't be here today, but he gave me advice on how to run your own business and supported me a lot, and of course Sookie, who always makes sure people don't have to eat the stuff I would cook for them. So, now please enjoy your meal and the company!"

Lorelai's speech was answered by applause, soft smiles, and even a few tears of pride. The latter were shed by Mia, Lorelai's foster mother, mentor and close friend. Lorelai had been nervous to have her mother and Mia in the same building, but there were so many things on her plate that the thought was pushed aside almost immediately. She had held her breath when the two elder women had met earlier that day, but Emily had been civil, and Mia had been her lovely self as always.

"You can be very proud, Emily. She has worked her way up", Mia said quietly.

"I am. I can only imagine where she might have landed if she had accepted help", Emily said with a friendly face. Her voice spoke a different language though.

"She has accepted help. But for Lorelai it is important to do things her way. She doesn't like to be compared to anyone, she wants to set her own standards", Mia explained.

"Funny, in her speech it sounded to me like she wants to follow your footsteps, instead of the ones that were there in our family", Emily said.

"The thing I learned about family is that it is always there, but it's more than genes and the same blood. Family is who you invite into your life, it complements the circle of people who will always be there, no matter what. Now, let's sit and have a nice evening. We owe it to Lorelai", Mia stated, and sat down next to Patty and Babette.

These words made Emily wonder. She couldn't deny the truth of the statement, and Lorelai has undoubtedly made it clear that she wanted to have her mother by her side for the test run. She didn't invite her father or Jason. Her parents' separation was too recent and nobody needed to be reminded of it. Jason wasn't keen on seeing her parents at the moment, so he had suggested to stay at home for the weekend, Lorelai doubted he would have slept in yet another strange bed anyway.

Luke had called on the morning of the test run, and told Lorelai that he couldn't make it because he was on his way to Maine to help his sister and her husband after their car accident. He sent her flowers, which stunned Lorelai. Flowers from Luke were just as weird as a cup of coffee without a lecture from him.

As the evening went on, Lorelai found her mother and Mia sitting in the library, exchanging stories about Lorelai and Rory, drinking brandy by the fireplace. Lorelai decided to go home to get some band-aids and her camera. She jogged upstairs.

"Rory, you're missing everything!", she called. "My mother and Mia are drinking to close friendship, and I will need proof of that moment. Also, Kirk has been giving Taylor weird looks all evening, and I'm not sure, but something tells me we might need band-aids later."

She ran back down, saying, "Honey, grab those CDs, let's get back to the inn ASAP."

Lorelai stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Rory and Dean exiting her room.

* * *

Two days after, Lorelai sat on her couch, but wasn't able to follow the movie that was running on her TV. She thought everything was her fault. She kept replaying conversations between Rory and herself over and over in her head. Lorelai recalled Rory being less than amused when it was pointed out to her that her love life had been practically non-existent during the last year. But she didn't know how and when it happened that her daughter seriously considered rekindling her relationship with Dean. With the test run for the Dragonfly, Lorelai's mind had been preoccupied, and now she was blaming herself for not seeing the signs that Rory was about to make a huge mistake.

Shipping her off to Europe with her mother might have been a solution for the short term, and Lorelai was aware that after Rory's return the situation would be the same. Her daughter had broken up a marriage. Lorelai shook her head. She was still in shock, and couldn't quite figure out how to deal with the situation. She couldn't help but compare her reaction to the many reactions her own mother had had when Lorelai had done things that were stupid. She felt shitty, because she knew as much as she had tried to not become her mother, she very much resembled Emily in this fiasco.

If only she could talk to Luke. A cup of coffee and his advice probably would help her get through this. Fifteen minutes later, she sat on stool on the counter, watching how Caesar poured the hot brown brew into her favorite mug.

"Thanks, Caesar. Any word on when the boss will return?", she asked and took a big gulp.

"He calls two, three times a day. Earlier he said he would be gone for at least two weeks", he replied.

"Two weeks? Wow, that's an awful lot of time!", Lorelai said. She wanted to sound stunned, but almost sounded shrill.

"Yeah, he said Liz and TJ have broken arms and legs. They need help with everything", Caesar explained.

"I can imagine. Next time he calls, tell him I said hi, OK?"

"Will do. If you want I can give you his number. You look like you need to talk."

"Do I? Wow, you're a regular mind-reader", Lorelai forced herself to smile while saying that.

"No offense, but you're not exactly hiding it. It's pretty late, and most people don't even drink coffee after dinner. So, you want his number?", he asked.

"No. I don't know if he would be comfortable. Besides, I think I can wait."

Lorelai drank her coffee, and Caesar waited on the other patrons at the diner. She knew she was probably imagining things, but the coffee tasted different. With one last gulp she finished it, and went to the bathroom. When she returned to the counter, Caesar was on the phone and her heart rate went up.

"Is that Luke?", she whispered.

Caesar nodded. "... yeah, boss. I'll order more buns for Saturday, and more eggs for Sunday... No... I'll just get danishes from Weston's... I'll start earlier for the delivery."

Lorelai's inner battle was telling her to just grab the phone, and in the next second to keep calm and cool down.

"Before I forget, Lorelai says hi... Yeah, she's sitting right here. OK, I'll tell her. Talk to you tomorrow. Bye, boss", Caesar said and hung up.

"Luke told me to tell you to stop drinking coffee so late", he said to Lorelai.

"Did he mention how many times he has poured me a cup of joe after sun-down?", she asked with raised eyebrows. "I think I better go. I'll take those donuts to go, please."

Caesar put the three donuts into a bag, and handed it to her. She paid, and went to the door. Suddenly her inner battle was at full throttle again. The doorknob still her hand, Lorelai turned around, and said, "I changed my mind. I'd like his number now."

* * *

"Hello?"

"The coffee's not the same!", Lorelai almost shouted.

"Who is this?", Luke asked confusedly.

"What do you mean? It's Lorelai."

"Where did you get this number?", he asked, his knitted eyebrows almost visible in front of her eyes.

"How rude! You make it sound like I'm stalking you. Caesar gave me your number. Or should I say 'He, who cannot make a decent cup of coffee'?"

"Are you crazy? He uses the same blend! Don't be ridiculous. I'm sure it tastes the same.", Luke tried to calm her.

"How would you even know?", she asked amusedly.

"I just know, OK. Is there any other reason why you called?", he asked curtly.

"Is it gettin' too late for ya, grandpa?"

"No, but I find it odd, even for you, to call me just to let me know you weren't satisfied with Caesar's coffee. He's made coffee before, you know. And I recall you drinking it, too. So, what's going on?", he wanted to know.

"Nothing much", she lied.

"How did the test run go?", Luke asked.

"Great. Michel brought his dogs, they ate Taylor's shoes, Babette and Miss Patty wore their robes in the dining room, and Kirk has night terrors that make him run around naked. My mother and Mia were drunk. So nothing big", she joked.

"Did you get my flowers?"

"Yes, they look beautiful. I'm looking at them right now. They sit on my coffee table. What inspired you to do it? I never considered you a flower guy."

"Well, that's because I'm not", he quickly said, then hesitated. "You deserved them. In the last weeks I thought about when you came back from that trip to Harvard, a couple years ago. You wanted my advice on how to start your own business. I knew you could do it. From all the people I know, you're probably the one who would most likely succeed. I knew it back then, I knew it when you were crying on a bench, and I still know it."

Lorelai didn't know what to say. It was such a high compliment.

"Rory slept with Dean", she blabbered out.

"What?", Luke asked with a raised voice.

"That was my reaction", motioning with her hand as if he could see it.

"But he's married", Luke said, still shocked.

"And that was my second reaction."

"Wow! How did that happen? I mean, not in the true sense of the word. But _why_ did that happen?"

"That's what I'd like to know. But I guess I was too busy eating three and a half pieces of pie in Manhattan than worrying about my daughter's problems."

"Be fair, it was more like three and three quarters", Luke tried to joke. It earned him a little chuckle from her.

"How could I let this happen, Luke? All I had on my mind was my own relationship, and this stupid inn!"

"Hey now, stop. This is hardly your fault, Lorelai. If it's anyone's fault, it would be mine", Luke confessed.

"What? What are you talking about?", Lorelai wanted to know.

"Remember before Dean and Lindsey got married? He came into the diner on the night of his bachelor party. He was drunk, and started talking about Rory. I sent his friends away, took him in for the night, and all he talked about was Rory. I should have stopped the wedding. Instead, I just stopped you two from going to the reception", Luke said and deeply exhaled at the end of the sentence.

"That was why you didn't want us to go? Because he still wasn't over Rory?", Lorelai tried to digest the news, as the missing puzzle pieces finally came together.

"Yes. So it was a team effort. Team Danes/Gilmore 1, Team Marriage 0", Luke deadpanned.

"Thank you for not hanging up", Lorelai said softly.

"Thanks for calling me. Being among all those Renaissance freaks, I'm afraid I'll turn into one of them."

"I think you don't have to worry about it. Living in Stars Hollow for 40 years didn't turn you into one of us either. It took me only four weeks, but you seem to be immune against the crazy", she assured him.

"Maybe. Don't you think it was crazy to get married on a cruise ship?", Luke asked carefully.

Lorelai hesitated. Even though they have talked about their respective relationships, she still felt kind of weird giving him her opinion about Nicole and their marriage. She knew it was stupid, especially since Luke hasn't hidden the fact that he disliked Jason, and thought he wasn't treating Lorelai right. Luke's comment about Jason not being able to sleep in the same bed as Lorelai sometimes came back in her head. It was so strange, she always tried to hide her relationships with other men from Luke, but at the same time didn't want him to think Jason was bad for Lorelai. She knew it was ironic, because she only ever told Luke about her problems, and not about the good things.

"It depends, Luke", she slowly replied, adding, "For some it might seem crazy, others would consider it incredibly romantic. Do you think it was crazy?", Lorelai asked, trying to sound casual.

"Um, when I was turning 30, I thought that by the time I was 40, I would be married, and have kids. So, measured by this, I'd say it wasn't crazy. On the other side, I never thought I'd marry someone I've only known for six months", Luke told her.

"Wow, you planned ahead an entire decade? I literally have never done that. At least not when it comes to important things."

"Well, back then I was still with Rachel, and I had hoped that she'd get sick of life on the road, and move back to Stars Hollow. I guess it's not a huge plan when you're in a relationship with someone", he explained.

"What happened next?", Lorelai asked curiously.

"She left, again, I was on my own, again. Only this time my dad was gone. My friend Ed tried to set me up with a couple of his wife's single friends, but it took me almost a year to feel like myself again, so I wasn't really good at dating. I doubt I am now."

"Especially considering that you're married and bigamy is strangely still considered something bad in our society", she joked.

Luke laughed softly.

"Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"You're asking me if you can ask something?"

"Yes. It's kind of personal. And I know you're very peculiar when it comes to your private life."

"You're scaring me now. Just ask. I might not answer."

"You said that you wanted to be married and have kids by the time you're 40. Are you and Nicole planning on having children?", Lorelai asked him, and dreaded the response.

"I was afraid you were gonna ask that. I don't even know if Nicole wants to have children. We have never talked about it. I know what you're thinking right now. First I tell you about the 40, married with kids thing, and then I get married to someone who maybe doesn't even want kids. I honestly don't know what she wants. When I first met her, I thought her career was the most important thing in her life. Then after meeting her parents, I thought she'd want kids. But she has never said a word about it. What about you? Do you and Jason want kids together?"

"I've seen a picture of him holding his nephew, and that's about as far as we've come to discussing the subject", Lorelai stated.

"Do you want more kids?"

"Actually, I do. I'm just not sure if I'm doing things right", she said and confused Luke with her statement.

"What do you mean?", he asked.

"Well, it's a little bit like what you have just said. You have a plan, and then you somehow wind up with someone who might not want the same things as you do. My boyfriend has trouble sleeping in the same bed as me. He hates change so much. Babies change everything. If he can't sleep with me next to him, what would he do when a baby wakes up in the middle of the night?", Lorelai wondered.

"He might come around", Luke calmed her. "Besides, if he can't get no sleep, he could feed the baby, and you could sleep."

"Since when are you an optimist?", Lorelai asked.

"Just pointing out the obvious...", Luke defended himself.

"Right, I forgot. On the outside you're all gruff and a curmudgeon, but on the inside, you're a 25 year old woman out of a romcom who hopes she could change the man she's in a relationship with", she said with a laugh.

"Don't mock me!"

"I'm just glad I'm not the only one who had been hoping a certain someone would change his ways completely."

Somehow Lorelai had managed to turn the topic of conversation from mockery to serious relationship talk.

"For how long have you been hoping?", Luke asked her with a sensitive touch to his usually gruff voice.

"Actively hoping? I guess for about ten years. Chris had asked me to marry him, you know, but when I said no, I guess he thought I had said no to us being a family. I mean, a couple of teenagers can't really be a family, anyway, now can they? After those ten years I had made it on my own. I could buy a house for Rory and myself, and I think I might have replaced her dad. Or at least on some level. I think Rory will never truly know what it would have been like with a father around. Hell, I don't even know how that would feel like, and my dad has been around for the most part."

"I honestly don't know what I would have preferred. My dad and I were really close, especially after my mother had died, but when he died, man, it was like the rug was being pulled from under my feet. It took me months to before I could stand on my own. I value every moment I had with him, but I guess that if I never had known what it feels like, I wouldn't have been mourning for so long. I'm sorry, I interrupted you. You were saying..."

"Luke, I think if you hadn't experienced all the things with your dad, you would have wondered all your life what it would have felt like to be really close with him. You would have regretted a lot. Your pain might have been more severe, but eventually it gave way to the happy memories you have of him, right?"

"Wow, that's pretty deep. At least for 11 o'clock on a Monday night", Luke assessed.

"Well, seeing my name on a headstone a couple weeks back made me think a little."

"Oh shit, Lorelai. I haven't even asked how you've been doing since the funeral!"

"I'm OK. I have been busy. Busy enough to miss my daughter losing her virginity to a married man", Lorelai said with a bitterness in her voice that made Luke shudder.

"It was her first time?", Luke asked carefully.

"Yes," Lorelai replied.

"So she and Jess never-"

"No. He tried though. How come you never knew about this?", Lorelai wanted to know.

"Men don't talk about stuff like that! I told him to always be safe, be nice to her, and if he hurt her, I'd kill him", Luke told her.

"Aw! And here I thought _I_ have replaced her father, when all the time, she had _you_ to look out for her!", Lorelai said half-mockingly, but he knew she was serious about it. He smiled.

"So, what happened after you had waited for ten years?", Luke said, trying to get the conversation back on track.

"I think subconsciously, I kept on waiting. But I dated. Unlike someone else...", she said.

"What makes you think I didn't date?", he challenged her.

"Well, have you? Because I sure haven't seen you around with someone."

"And give Patty and Babette the satisfaction to objectify me even more? No, thank you!", he snorted.

"You have dated?", Lorelai asked astonishedly.

"Of course!", Luke said.

"Who? Where? When?", she asked, amused by the thought of Luke on a date.

"Add 'how' and 'what', and you have all the questions a fifth grader needs to retell a short story", he joked.

"Be serious!", she demanded.

"I normally don't date anyone from Stars Hollow. Or didn't date, to be more precise."

Lorelai giggled a little.

"Why does this amuse you so much?", he asked, a little insulted.

"It's just that I have only seen you with Rachel and Nicole."

"So? I'm a man, I have needs, too. There were other women, Lorelai."

"OK, I believe you", she said appeasingly. "Just out of curiosity, and I'm aware how inappropriate this is, how many women are we talking?", Lorelai asked impudently.

"Dates, or... more?", he said, as he shifted umcomfortably on his bed.

"Both?", she half-asked.

"Well, dates like every couple months, and sometimes, more things happened. I'd say two, three times a year, maybe."

Lorelai was silent for a while. Not that she thought he didn't have the looks to go on dates, but she was a bit surprised.

"Lorelai?", he asked, her silence making him uneasy.

"Wow, compared to me, you're a regular manwhore!", she squealed.

"And I don't even spend a tenth of what you pay for clothes and make-up!", he joked.

She laughed.

"Caesar said you won't be back for another two weeks", she told him.

"Maybe even longer. Liz and TJ need a lot of help", Luke explained.

"Well, I guess I'll miss you", she admitted.

"You have my number", he offered.

"I might use it sometime."

"Be my guest."

"Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"This has been nice."

"It has."

"Good night."

"Night!", he said and hung up.

* * *

**I hope you liked the chapter. Reviewers are my favorite readers!**


	8. Chapter Eight: Home

**AN: **Hi, my beloved readers. I'm aware that over a month has passed since my last update. Sorry about that. But here it is: my new chapter. I hope you like it. Thanks so much for all the reviews, faves, and follows. A big fat Dankeschön goes to my wonderful beta** _junienmomo_, **whose notes were great as always.

* * *

_Previously:_

_"Well, I guess I'll miss you", she admitted._

_"You have my number", Luke offered._

_"I might use it sometime."_

_"Be my guest."_

* * *

Chapter Eight: Home

"Hello Lorelai."

"Oh, hi Mom. How are you?", the daughter asked.

"I'm fine. We'll go to Rome in two days", Emily replied.

"Sick of Vienna already?"

"I enjoy their coffee house culture, but with those sweet pastries and cakes everywhere, one wonders how the Austrian people aren't the biggest in the world", Emily said, shaking her head.

"Well, it's probably the music. They waltz all day long, and can eat whatever they want. So, how are you doing, Mom?"

"I've already answered that question, I'm fine."

"Are you? Are you fine? With the separation and everything?", Lorelai asked, her voice filled with concern.

"I have enough distraction, Lorelai", Emily assured her daughter.

"That's not what I asked, but OK. Have you thought about the time when you come back? I mean, how will things be between you and dad?"

"I do not know what your father's opinion on the matter is, I haven't talked to him since we left", Emily replied coolly.

"You haven't talked to him in six weeks? Have you written him?", Lorelai asked.

"No, I haven't. I assume all he does is smoke cigars all day long, it's probably going to take weeks to get the stench out of the house."

"Mom, you have to talk to him", Lorelai suggested.

"Why would I? He's shown he has no concern for my feelings whatsoever. The maid knows when I'll return, and I assume she's told him. That's all he needs to know for now", Emily explained.

"Are you sure? I know it's ultimately your decision, but you might want to talk to him yourself, even if it's just for your sleeping arrangements", Lorelai added, feeling awkward talking about the subject to her mother.

"I'll think about it. Do you want to talk to Rory?", Emily asked, desperate to change the topic.

"Um, uh, s-sure", Lorelai stuttered.

Lorelai took a deep breathe, anxious to get this over with.

"Hello?", Rory said shyly.

"Hi, how's Austria?", Lorelai asked flatly.

"You know, the Alps on one side, Hungary on the other", her daughter replied dully.

"Huh. Pancakes OK?"

"Yup, quite good", Rory said monotonously.

"Seen any horses?"

"Tons."

"OK, I'm out."

"Seemed inevitable."

"One last thing. How's grandma really doing?", Lorelai asked.

"She's good. Flirty, but good", Rory answered.

"Flirty? Like with men?"

"Yes. Haven't caught her watching 'The L word' or anything."

"OK, I'll let you go. Maybe you could make her call Dad", Lorelai suggested.

"If the subject comes up, maybe. Bye", Rory said.

"Bye, Rory", Lorelai said quietly, but her daughter had already hung up.

She let her head fall on her desk, saying "Hmmmpf", and feeling so helpless. Her mother had distraction. Maybe she needed distraction. Lorelai started doing paper work. Never in her wildest dreams would she have thought how much paper work she'd had to do. She didn't know if her memory was trying to fool her, but she didn't recall doing this much paper work for the Independence Inn.

As much as Lorelai liked how her relationship to her mother was slowly improving, and more and more boundaries were pushed aside, or talked aside in this case, the memory of all the monosyllabic conversations with Rory pained her. Who knew other people than Luke could pull off the monosyllabic thing for entire conversations?

After three hours, a soft knock on her office door pulled her out of her calculations, invoices, and pay checks. Sookie's happy face appeared, her dimples looking more cheerful than ever.

"You look happy! Did Davey say his first word? Was it 'caramel'?", Lorelai asked.

"No. Too complicated for a nine month old!"

"But we've been practicing for weeks!"

"Wanna join me for a coffee break? I tried out a new recipe for scones", Sookie smiled.

"You had me at 'coffee break', no need to bring put the big guns", Lorelai nodded, and followed Sookie into the kitchen.

They sat and chatted for a little while, when Michel came into the kitchen.

"There is a man here for you", he said with an annoyed facial expression.

"Who is it?", Lorelai asked.

"I don't care", he said and turned on his heel.

Lorelai and Sookie exchanged a look, Lorelai grimaced, and went to the lobby. Her heart rate picked up, because she was sure that Luke finally kept his promise and returned from Maine. She was so excited to show him the finished inn, and to have him back in Stars Hollow.

"Lorelai", a deep voice said.

She turned around, and was disappoined not to find Luke in front of her.

"Dad! What are you doing here?", Lorelai asked with knitted brows.

"A father can't see his only child without making an appointment? I'm here to see your hotel, I wasn't invited to the test run, and I haven't seen the place", he explained angrily.

"I'm sorry, Dad. I didn't want to come between you and mom", she said and looked at her shoes.

"Clearly. You're on her side", he accused her.

"Dad, that's not true. Can we talk about this later? How about a tour, and dinner afterwards? It's Friday, and maybe we could have a version of the typical Gilmore Friday night dinner?", she said and wiggled her eyebrows.

An hour later, they sat in the dining room of the Dragonfly Inn, drinking espresso, and talking about the delicious meal Sookie had made for them.

"I must say Lorelai, even if your rooms weren't as tastefully furnished, people would probably still come to this place for the food alone. You've chosen your business partner wisely. Unfortunately, I can't say that you got that from me", he said in a sad tone.

"Dad, we've had such a nice evening, could we please talk about something else?", Lorelai begged.

"If you wish", he said appeasingly, adding, "Have you talked to your mother lately?"

Lorelai cleared her throat.

"In fact, I have. This afternoon. They're in Vienna, leaving for Rome on Sunday. They'll come back home a week from Sunday."

"The maid has informed me already."

"What happened between you and Mom?", Lorelai wanted to know.

"I'm sure your mother has told you already."

"Yes, she has, but I would like to hear your side of the story, too. I mean, I'm a grown woman, but I don't want my parents to get a divorce or anything, you need to work this out."

"Your mother is very stubborn, Lorelai, always has been. She fails to see that I did what I did to secure our future. She feels left out, thinks I cheated on her, and doesn't agree with my latest business decision. She thinks she knows my business better than I do, but she doesn't have the detailed knowledge, what she knows barely scratches the surface, yet she still thinks I'm to blame", Richard explained.

"But Dad, Gran died, she must have left you some money, is it really true that you couldn't have survived a law suit?", Lorelai wondered.

"I don't want to bore you with details, but Trix' money isn't yet available to me. The house sale isn't through, we're still in escrow. It was the right choice at the time. To answer your initial question, I don't know if she'll come around. She doesn't trust me anymore", he said sadly.

"Dad, I'm not taking sides here, but don't you think she's right not to trust you anymore?"

"What do you mean?", he asked.

"I mean that her opinion didn't seem to matter to you in the last year. I know she didn't want you to go into business with Jason, she hated the Atlantic City launch party, and I think she didn't feel needed anymore."

"Did she tell you that?"

"No, this is what I make of it. All she ever was is your wife, and she loved her job, dad. I think right now she feels like you did when you were pushed out of your business almost three years ago. And I recall you feeling miserable then. Just imagine what she must feel like. You don't have a contract, you can't just fire her. She's your wife."

Lorelai saw the tears in her father's eyes. She put her hand on his, and squeezed it gently. She knew only a topic change could save the situation.

"OK, enough with the marriage counseling for today. Can I persuade you to share Sookie's 'Crêpes Suzette' with me?", she asked, knowing that she had inherited her father's sweet tooth.

* * *

Later that night, Lorelai thought about home. She was at home right now, yet nothing felt homey. Her daughter wasn't there or talking to her, her parents might be on the verge of breaking up, and her best friend hasn't been around for six whole weeks. She pushed the bubbles from her bubble bath around on the water surface. This was all part of her new evening routine. With the inn finally being open, she needed something quiet and calming at night. She couldn't tell Rory about her day, so she called Luke more often. They talked three or four times a week, mostly about the events in Stars Hollow, the inn, or the crazy people from the Renaissance fair. Lorelai closed her eyes, and went through the conversation with her father once again. He never said he didn't love Emily anymore, he never even said he wanted her to move out. Lorelai sighed.

She felt like she was trapped in a Rubik's cube. When one side finally looked like everything would be fine, she twisted it, but it didn't look like she had expected. Her financial problems were gone, for now at least, but her relationship with Jason still felt iffy. With her amount of work load, she barely could make it home awake at night, let alone drive to Hartford to spend the night at his place. He still tried to minimize his over-night stays at the crap shack, so their relationship had been on pause for a couple of weeks now.

Armed with a box of Mallomars, her cell phone, and her landline phone, she plumped down on her bed. She dialled the familiar number.

"Yeah", his gruff voice said.

"Good evening to you too", she sing-songed.

"Hey, Lorelai", Luke said.

"Wow, you remember."

"Best not to forget that voice."

"So, today I honestly thought you'd pay me a visit at the inn, but I was disappointed. Yet again. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I, uh, am still in Maine", he said.

"Really? And here I thought you'd be sick of the Renaissance fair. Stupid me."

"Sorry, Liz and TJ aren't well enough", he explained.

"What does your wife say to your absence? Has she sent out a search party yet?"

He chuckled. "Not that I know of. How are you?", he asked her.

"I'm OK. How about you?"

"Not too bad. This is the last place of the tour before I'll go home", Luke stated.

"I believe it when I see it. So, Liz and TJ are still wearing their casts?", Lorelai wanted to know.

"Um, yeah. That's why I'm still here. Don't you believe me?", he said with an accusatory tone in his voice.

Taken aback by his harshness, she wrinkled her forehead, and said, "Of course I believe you."

"Sorry, you just sounded a little like Nicole."

"Oh, so the wife doesn't think you're still needed?", Lorelai wondered.

He hesitated. "Seems like it."

"And is she right? I mean, six weeks is an awful lot of time to recover. I had a broken leg once, and my cast came off after four weeks. I still remember my first shower afterwards", she said with a smile.

Silence.

"Luke?", Lorelai asked.

"Hmmm. Maybe I'm just being protective of my little sister", he defended himself.

"You?", she chuckled.

"Yes, me. Is that so hard to believe?", he said gruffly.

"No, not at all. What's the matter, Luke?", Lorelai said.

"I can't tell you."

"Oh come on. In the last weeks, we've told each other about everything."

"I feel uncomfortable sharing this with you", he said.

"Really? I thought we could tell each other things. I told you about the time I had to go to work without underwear because I forgot to do laundry", she tried to convince him.

"And I wasn't really comfortable with that either. Besides, that simply shows that you have no boundaries when it comes to your personal stuff."

"I do have boundaries, believe me. You're getting the edited version", she remarked.

"And how is that gonna convince me to share things about my personal life?"

"Would you tell me if I told you something?", she suggested.

"Maybe."

Lorelai thought for a moment. She wasn't sure if she really wanted to tell Luke, but she was curious to find out why he was still in Maine, when his sister and TJ probably were fine by now.

She worked up the courage, and said, "I only agreed to go out with Jason to spite my mother."

She could hear his brain digest the statement. He was clearing his throat.

"I've been staying in Maine because Nicole wants to have a one year anniversary party", he said quickly.

"Oh my", was all Lorelai could mutter.

A beeping sound pulled Lorelai out of her thoughts. She checked her cell phone.

_Sorry, I can't make it tonight. Sweet dreams. -J_

"Lorelai?", Luke said impatiently.

"Yeah, I'm here. I just got a text. Seems like I'll be staying alone tonight. Surprise", she said sarcastically.

"No Jason?", he asked curiously.

"No Jason", she confirmed.

"What do you say about the thing I just told you?", he wanted to know.

"I need more information", she said and crossed her legs Indian style.

"When we were at Liz and TJ's wedding, we were dancing", Luke started, causing a pang of jealousy in Lorelai's heart as the image popped back in her head, "and I guess Nicole kinda liked the idea of a big wedding. So the next day, she suggested a big anniversary party."

"And?"

"And I said no", he said matter-of-factly.

"Why?"

"Are we stuck in reversed roles? Since when are your replies monosyllabic?"

"Just giving you a taste of your own medicine. Go on", she ordered.

"I don't think the first wedding anniversary is something one celebrates in a big way. Ten years? Maybe? 25? Definitely, but one year? What's that anniversary called? I bet there's not even a name for it!", he ranted.

"Paper."

"Huh?"

"It's the paper anniversary."

"How do you know?"

"Rory told me once."

"So? She also told you to do laundry, and you didn't remember", he teased her.

"Haha, very funny. Back to your marital problems, which would be my slogan for the day", Lorelai said.

"I just, uh, I don't know, Lorelai. I'm not a fan of crowds, OK-", he said before she cut him off.

"Except for baseball stadiums...", she smiled.

Luke ignored her.

"I don't wanna do this huge party, which would cost me thousands of dollars, and for what? To make me feel uncomfortable for a few hours, and invite people I don't know so that they can see how uncomfortable I would be?"

"And have cake, don't forget the cake", she chipped in.

"Yeah, you know me, can't live a day without cake", he deadpanned.

"So you're basically saying that you're hiding from your wife in Maine, to get out of your one year anniversary party?"

He inhaled. "Yes."

"Luke, don't you think you're overreacting? Can't you just get this over with?"

"I guess. How is Rory?", he asked.

Lorelai sighed.

"I don't know. We talked on the phone earlier. But she still won't talk to me about it. Did I make a mistake?", Lorelai asked Luke.

"No. At least I don't think so. She made a mistake, and you pointed that out to her", he defended her.

"But I miss her, Luke. Everything's just so screwed up! Rory's not here, my mom's flirting with strange men, my parents might get a divorce, and you're not here. My house doesn't feel like a home anymore. I'm in robot-mode all day, working my ass off at the inn, too tired to drive to Hartford to see my boyfriend, and he still doesn't come here often", she explained, adding a shocked, "Oh my God!"

"What? What's the matter?"

"I just realized that you prefer being celibate, instead of coming home! Unless you have a thing for grog booth Annie!"

"I do not have a thing for grog booth Annie", he said.

"Yeah, didn't think so. Wow, you must have a lot of self control", Lorelai stated with a nod.

"More than Laura Branigan", he joked.

Lorelai chuckled.

"You can still make things right with Rory. Talk to her, make her listen to you. You should call her", Luke said softly.

"You should come home", she replied.

"OK, good night, Lorelai."

"Night, Luke", she said and hung up.

Lorelai looked at the still untouched box of Mallomars. She ripped it open, and ate about half of its contents. Afterwards, she grabbed her phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi Rory, it's me. Please don't hang up. I need to talk to you", Lorelai begged.

Rory loudly exhaled. "OK."

"Listen, kid, I love you, and I won't make any accusations anymore. I think I wasn't fair to you, which doesn't mean I'm fine with what you did, but I think compared to the cosmic space, the thing you did is insignificant. In this microcosm called Stars Hollow, it still is a big thing. There are other things that pull me down right now, and I can't fix those things. But the thing with you, this is something I can do something about. I wanna be there for you, I know this can't be easy for you. And I miss you, and I don't feel like myself when we're fighting. I hate this! I need to talk to you", Lorelai desperately pleaded.

"Mom, I miss you, too. I know I screwed up, big time", Rory said.

"Kid, you're gonna be fine, I'm here for you", Lorelai said.

"We can talk about this next week when I get home. What is it you wanted to talk about besides the grandparents?", Rory asked.

"It's Jason..."

* * *

**So sorry for the kinda cliffhanger at the end. The rest of the conversation will be in the next chapter. Did you like the chapter? Reviewers are my favorite readers!**


	9. Chapter Nine: Welcome Back

**AN:** Hi readers! I hope you're doing OK. I hurried with this chapter, I hated leaving you with a cliffhanger, especially because I hate them when I read a story. Let me thank your for the reviews, and let's give a shout-out to the lovely **junienmomo** for her amazing beta work! Now enjoy the chapter!

* * *

**Chapter Nine: Welcome back**

"Hello?"

"Hi Rory, it's me. Please don't hang up. I need to talk to you", Lorelai begged.

Rory loudly exhaled. "OK."

"Listen, kid, I love you, and I won't make any accusations anymore. I think I wasn't fair to you, which doesn't mean I'm fine with what you did, but I think compared to the cosmic space, the thing you did is insignificant. In this microcosm called Stars Hollow, it still is a big thing. There are other things that pull me down right now, and I can't fix those things. But the thing with you, this is something I can do something about. I wanna be there for you, I know this can't be easy for you. And I miss you, and I don't feel like myself when we're fighting. I hate this! I need to talk to you", Lorelai desperately pleaded.

"Mom, I miss you, too. I know I screwed up, big time", Rory said.

"Kid, you're gonna be fine, I'm here for you", Lorelai said.

"We can talk about this next week when I get home. What is it you wanted to talk about besides the grandparents?", Rory asked.

"It's Jason..."

"What about him?", Rory asked worriedly, adding, "Is he OK?"

"Yes, I guess he is. It's just that I'm not sure if this is gonna work out", Lorelai sighed.

"Why? What happened?", she wanted to know.

"What happened? More like what didn't happen! I haven't seen him in ten days. Ten minutes ago he texted me that he won't come over tonight, again. I know I'm busy, and I guess sometimes I'm not considerate enough of his needs", the mother explained.

"Needs? What needs?"

"He can only sleep in his own bed, but I just need him, you know."

"Mom, I'm a little confused here. What do you mean with 'considerate' and 'needs'?", Rory was wondering, wrinkling her forehead.

"This isn't exactly material for a mother-daughter-conversation", Lorelai shook her head.

"Well, if you want me to help, you have to give me a little something", Rory demanded.

Lorelai sighed. "Let's just say that Jason's not the cuddling type. In bed, I mean. When we're at his place I sleep in the guest room. When we're at my place, he needs to be really tired to be able to fall asleep next to me."

"Really tired?", Rory asked, not quite understanding what her mother was talking about.

"Yeah, like from physical exercise", Lorelai said.

"Geez, Mom. Gross! So you mean he only comes over to...", Rory speculated, her cheeks burning up.

"Yes. But right now, I sometimes need my boyfriend, not just my lover, you know. I think he's avoiding me", Lorelai said sadly.

"Have you talked to him about this?", Rory asked.

"Multiple times. He says he's a really light sleeper. But lately, I've been wondering...", Lorelai started.

"Wondering about?", Rory inquired.

"If this is a relationship I want to pursue any longer", Lorelai admitted, and reached for another Mallomar.

"I thought you were working through your problems."

"That's what I thought. But doesn't a couple need to be together when they work on their problems? Since the opening of the inn I've seen him maybe three times. It's just that I'm not sure if he's someone I can be together with forever. I'm 36, Rory. He can't sleep when he gets distracted at night. What if we ever had a baby? He'd be awake all night!"

"Maybe he could take care of the baby", Rory suggested with a laugh.

"This is exactly what Luke said", Lorelai chuckled softly.

"Luke? You told Luke about this?, Rory asked concerned.

"Yeah, it came up a few weeks ago", Lorelai confirmed.

"So he's back from Maine?", the daughter wanted to know.

"No, he says he'll be back next week. But I'll only believe it when I see it, he's been telling me for weeks that he'll be back next week."

"You talked to Luke on the phone?", Rory asked incredulously.

"Well, my voice won't carry all the way up to Maine", Lorelai joked.

"Mom!", Rory said.

"What?"

"You talk to Luke about your relationship?"

"Well, yeah, we've been talking on the phone maybe three times each week. Mostly we just talk about Taylor's stupid new ideas or Henry from the Renaissance fair. But sometimes, other subjects have come up. Why?"

"I can't imagine Luke talking about his relationship at all", Rory said, clearly being surprised by the notion.

"He does. He doesn't like to do it, he usually puts up a fight, but in the end he tells me things", Lorelai clarified.

"What are you gonna do about Jason, Mom?", Rory asked shyly.

"The only thing I _can_ do. I guess part of me isn't really all that surprised that it's not..."

"...working out?", the daughter finished her mom's sentence.

"Yeah", Lorelai said.

"Why do you think it's not working, I mean obvious problems aside."

"Hmmm", she pondered. "How shall I put this? I think I was fascinated how this guy from my old world has a personality that is so not from that world. Fascination, admiration, yes, but love? No, not really. I'm not in love with him. I've realized that I'm way too young to settle for companionship."

"Mom, if you don't love him, why didn't you break up with him sooner?", Rory asked.

"I haven't been taking care of my personal life lately, I guess. I was thinking about the inn 24/7. Maybe we were just drifting apart, but that would mean we were together at one point. I'm not so sure we were", Lorelai remarked.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Rory, you're the kid, I'm the mom. I'm not supposed to get your advice on my love life", Lorelai explained.

"I think I owe you a few words of honesty, especially since you didn't hold back when it came to my love life. It's more than weird to be sleeping in the guest room at your boyfriend's house. Not that I'm such an expert, but how do you think it would be if you ever moved in together?", Rory asked her mother.

"I don't know, kid. Honestly, I never thought about us getting serious. This is another thing Luke and I have in common. He told me about his fantasy to be married and have children, but he doesn't even know if Nicole wants any", Lorelai said nonchalantly.

"I can't believe he told you all that stuff. Normally, he's all 'Leave me alone!', 'Don't talk to me!', and 'None of your business!'", Rory said, imitating Luke's baritone, making her mother chuckle on the other end of the line.

"I know. I think part of it is because he might be a bit lonely up in Maine. Plus, I think he's more comfortable sharing things with me without looking me in the eye. Don't get me wrong, I still have to worm things out of him. I can be pretty persuasive though", Lorelai said with a smile.

Rory chuckled. "Really? Imagine that!"

Lorelai felt so good hearing her their usual banter. They might have been separated by the Atlantic Ocean at that point, but for the first time in weeks, if not months, Lorelai felt really close to her daughter. Both of the duo had love troubles, yet Lorelai felt the need to talk about something different in that moment.

"Rory, we need to talk about the grandparents..."

Fifteen minutes later, Lorelai hung up, and streched her limbs on her bed.

It was late, but she wasn't tired yet. She knew that she had to talk to Jason, she just wasn't sure if she should do it right away, or sleep on it. Within the last hour she had talked to her best friend and her daughter on the phone, and both conversations helped her realize that she had not only been avoiding her boyfriend on some level, but also to reflect upon their relationship in a long time. She tried to remember, but only came up with the day she made Jason drop the lawsuit against her father. That was months ago.

After a bathroom break, she came back to her bedroom, and once again dialled a number.

"Hello?", Jason's sleepy voice said.

"Hi, it's me. I'm sorry to be calling so late", Lorelai replied.

"It's fine. What's up?", he asked her.

"I got to thinking, and, um, this is awkward, but I don't think we should be together anymore. It's not working for me", she declared.

Silence.

"Jason, are you still there?"

"I'm here. I just, uh, am surprised."

"You are?", she asked with a frown.

"I am. Is this because I cancelled our date tonight?", he asked, not angry, just taken by surprise.

"No, yes, I don't know. It's been a long time since I've felt... a connection, I guess", Lorelai replied honestly.

"I don't think one loses a connection so fast to be honest."

"Maybe it wasn't so strong to begin with."'

"You really think so?", he wanted to know.

"Jason, listen, I don't want to be unfair or unreasonable, but I think it could never have worked between us. You couldn't sleep in one bed with me, where do you see us in ten years? I'm certainly not sleeping in separate bedrooms with my husband like my grandmother did. And frankly, I see myself married in ten years. It's not that I don't like you, it's that I don't love you, and it never felt like you loved me", Lorelai reasoned.

He thought for a moment or two.

"What do you want me to say, Lorelai?", he asked, defeated.

"Nothing. You don't have to say anything", she said calmly.

When she got no reply, she said, "Goodbye, Jason", and hung up.

Lorelai got up, went to the bathroom, and took a shower. She let the warm spray wash the day off of her, and felt it might also wash the remains of their relationship away.

When she had dried her body, and clad it with her pajamas, she went downstairs, and took the only one time used key to Jason's apartment from the bowl on the desk, and put it in an envelope. She felt like that time three years ago when she did the same thing with the engagement ring Max had given to her. She was sure that Jason's door was closed forever, and she felt a mixture of relief, and contentment when she closed the envelope.

* * *

Three days later at the Dragonfly Inn, Lorelai was busy signing checks for Shel, the poultry supplier, Jackson, Herb their meat guy, and Grayson's, the florist. A decided knock on her office door interrupted the process for the latter, and she scrawled her signature on it.

"There's a man here for you", Michel said with indifference.

"My dad?", she asked.

"No."

Lorelai dreaded it might be Jason, who must have gotten the FedEx envelope by now. Just when she exited her office, her mouth dropped open, when she saw the flannel and blue baseball hat.

"Luke!", she squealed with glee.

Though this would have been unusual for their friendship before the longest summer in history, it was almost no surprise to Lorelai when he opened his arms, and hugged her. Midway through the hug, she felt a little weird, and patted his shoulder a few times before she slipped out of his embrace.

"Thought I'd check out the competition", he said casually, smiling so widely that Lorelai was almost blinded by his white teeth.

"I thought you'd only be back on the weekend!", she said.

"Can't avoid Stars Hollow forever, right?"

"It's so good to see you! How about a tour of this fine establishment?"

He simply nodded in agreement.

Half an hour later, they sat in the dining room, enjoying roasted squash soup with rosemary croutons. To Lorelai, this was a moment of perfection. Good food, good company, good conversation. They hadn't talked since Friday night, and she filled him in on the developments with Rory, conveniently leaving out the part about Jason, which she didn't want to share with guests and employees only four feet away from them.

"So, when will she be back?", Luke inquired.

"Sunday afternoon. Then we'll have a week before she goes back to Yale."

"Did you buy a new mattress already?", he teased her.

"You know, I forgot. I might just do that tomorrow, in case you're offering to move it for her", she joked right back, adding, "It's all taken care of, Luke. Rory put everything into storage at the end of last semester, and we'll have movers do the hard work this time."

When Luke fell silent for a while, she asked, "Are you OK?"

"Yeah, it's just overwhelming, you know. Being back, being here, seeing this place. You can be proud, Lorelai", he told her, visibly touched.

"I am, Luke. Thank you. I'm glad to have you back. It was weird celebrating the soft opening without you", Lorelai remarked.

"Have I told you that my parents celebrated their wedding here at the old Dragonfly?", Luke asked.

Lorelai's eyes went wide, and she shook her head. "No."

"They came back here for their anniversaries every year until it closed. I recall me and my sister sleeping at Mia's or Maisy's, that's another friend of my mom, so that they could have a night out. I think they even spent the night here", he remembered.

"Wow, that's a nice tradition. Do you recall how long they did that?", she asked carefully.

"I remember that they had a party for their tenth anniversary, and Liz was getting on my nerves for weeks leading up to it. My aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends of my parents came, and we all had a great time. Until my sister fell into the pond, and had sea weed all over her dress", he smiled at the memory.

"Oh no!", she laughed empathically.

"Maybe they did it again once, or twice, then my mom died. I don't think this place stayed open much longer after that. My dad sometimes took me and Liz out here on their anniversary, and put flowers on the steps. He wasn't big with cemeteries, and didn't want us kids going there too often. So we came here on their anniversary, and went to the cemetery for her birthday."

The pictures Luke painted made Lorelai shake to the core. Knowing how much love there was in his family gave her so much insight, and she could comprehend why he wouldn't want a big party with Nicole. She was dying to ask him about the plans for their anniversary, but didn't want to push him too far.

She cleared her throat.

"Do you want dessert?", she asked him.

"No, I think I'll go back to the diner. I left them alone for so long, I'm afraid that I've lost all authority", he chuckled.

"I'll take you to your truck then", Lorelai decided.

When they had walked the five minutes along the narrow road to the parking lot, she turned to him, and asked, "When can I expect my invitation?"

"Invitation to?"

"The big party of course!"

"Oh, that. Nicole and I have decided not to celebrate our anniversary after all", he explained.

"I see", she nodded understandingly.

This time Lorelai opened her arms, and waited for Luke to reciprocate the hug, which he gladly did.

"See you tonight in the diner?", he asked.

"Probably not, I still have a few things to do, but tomorrow morning, I'll be the first customer", she announced happily.

"Kirk usually comes in around 6", Luke remarked.

"You didn't let me finish. I'll be the first customer you'll be happy to see", she said with a smile that reached her eyes.

"That's definitely the more likely event", he confirmed and drove off.

* * *

Six days, one delivered envelope, and countless cups of Luke's coffee later, Lorelai welcomed her daughter and mother back to her time zone.

Finally, Rory told her what she had written to Dean.

"I'm still a bit mad that you did it in the first place, but I'm proud that you ended it. How are you feeling?", Lorelai asked, and pulled her daughter close as they sat on the couch.

"Good-ish. I know that I broke up a marriage, and I don't even know why I was so insensible. I have to live with that now", she said sadly.

"I know what you mean. I felt the same way after your dad basically cheated on Sherry with me. I should have waited until they were broken up officially."

"She still would have been pregnant, and maybe wouldn't have broken up", Rory said.

"Yeah, that would have been better. That way I never would have gone through that awful summer."

"Maybe it was for the best, Mom", she consoled her.

"I guess. I learned that your Dad and I never had great timing, and we never will."

"Ever?", Rory asked hesitantly.

"Never ever", Lorelai said decidedly.

* * *

**Please let me know what you think of the chapter. Reviewers are my favorite readers!**


	10. Chapter Ten: Traditionalists

**AN: **Hi readers! I hope you're all doing OK. Let's give a shout-out to _Junienmomo_ for her amazing beta work. Please read the chapter, and let me know what you think! I still don't own a thing.

* * *

**Chapter Ten: Traditionalists**

If there's something Lorelai Gilmore is very fond of it's tradition. After escaping her parents' house and leaving those kinds of traditions behind, she was willing to create new ones with her daughter. Watching movies was one of the first ones. She recalled the first time they watched 'Mannequin' in one of the free rooms of the Independence Inn, and decided to celebrate the bad movies as enthusiastically as the good ones. By the time Rory was 10 years old and they had seen 'Wayne's World', Lorelai added more snacks of the unhealthy kind to their movie nights.

Years later, their tradition was to get coffee once a week, usually on Sunday afternoons, at Luke's, together with a piece or two of pie, while slowly but steadily coaxing more words out of the curmudgeon proprietor. The once a week tradition soon became once a day, and it was cherished by both of the Gilmore girls.

As eager as Lorelai was with maintaining their many traditions, she was equally keen on creating new ones. Just like all things great, some of their traditions were purely incidental occurrences. It must have been around that time when Luke first came to the Crap Shack to repair some things Rory had mentioned, when some red and green M&amp;M's landed in their breakfast cereal. The door of the kitchen cabinet was askew, didn't close properly, and a few M&amp;M's that were stored in the cabinet landed in Rory's cereal bowl, which was sitting on the counter just under it. Later the same day, the shy 12-year old asked Luke if he had a tool box, and if he was handy, ignoring the pleading looks of her slightly embarrassed mother. Having decided not to reply, her blue eyes prevented him from giving the answer he had originally intended, and agreed to take a look at it.

Luke remembered the day very well. He came into their house, his tool box in his right hand, and Lorelai stood before him, wearing a pair of jeans, a tight red sweater and pigtails. She had talked about naming his toolbox Bert, then babbled about Ernie and Bert, Jim Henson, and he didn't recall exactly, but he also remembered something about a labyrinth, or a movie called 'Labyrinth'. The woman always seemed to jump from subject to subject, and he had no clue how those three were connected at all. When they walked into the kitchen, they saw Rory sitting at the kitchen table, doing some homework.

"Rory, hon, why don't you take your papers and books and move them to your desk while Luke here takes a look at the cabinet door?", Lorelai had said then.

"Sure", the polite pre-teen had answered, leaving Luke slightly shaking his head at the girl who would do homework a day before Christmas, when there would be much more time before school would start again in three weeks.

When Rory had picked her stuff up, she had looked at them expectantly. Lorelai had wrinkled her forehead, wondering what her daughter was thinking.

"You two know that you have to kiss now, right", the girl had said with a broad smile.

The redness creeped into both Luke's and Lorelai's faces as they stood in the archway to the kitchen, and Luke followed Lorelai's eyes up to the mistle toe above them.

"Maybe we can skip it this time, don't you think sweets? Let Luke go to work so that he can be back at his diner as soon as possible?", Lorelai had asked.

Rory didn't budge. She had blinked a few times, and knowing her mother so well, said the three magic words, "But it's tradition."

Lorelai had swallowed, and could tell Luke was just as uncomfortable as she was. Nonetheless, she audibly inhaled, leaned forward, closed her eyes, and waited for Luke to react. It wasn't long before she had felt a soft peck on her lips and his warm breath against her skin. With her heart hammering in her chest afterwards, she went back to the living room and decided it was time to do some very necessary dusting.

It wasn't lost on Rory that the next day the mistle toe was moved to the upstairs hallway.

Now, a new tradition was born. When a tight schedule had forced Lorelai and Rory to change their plans one year earlier, they had ended up on a very comfy couch in the elder Gilmores' den, watching ballroom competitions, eating the last of their biscotti they had brought from Italy. If Rory hadn't decided to accompany her grandmother to Europe for the summer, and hadn't brought back a new batch of the long biscuits, Lorelai would have asked Sookie to bake them for their ballroom and biscotti night.

This night marked the end of the week that should have taken place a year earlier. A day in New York, a day at the beauty salon, shopping for school followed by a barbeque at Sookie's, and watching the Godfather trilogy, everything they couldn't do last year because Rory had noted the first day of school wrong.

With her mother on her right, her daughter on her left, and a bag of biscotti in her lap, Lorelai watched year 1990 of Emily's tapings. A happy smile spread across her face, when her mother explained the latest change of the rules, and provided them with ballroom trivia, not leaving out the dated gossip about who slept with their partner in real life.

"Those two are Karen and Marcus Hilton. This is the first year they've won, and they would stay the champions for the entire decade", Emily explained.

"Mother! No spoilers! Great, now we know who's gonna win the next nine years! Why would we even keep watching now?" Lorelai asked.

"Don't sound so surprised, Lorelai! You could look those things up on the internet. Besides, don't you want to see how their hair and wardrobe changes?", Emily wanted to know.

Lorelai sighed. She knew her mother knew her better than she cared to admit. "Fine, but we'll fast-forward from now on."

"Mom! No fast-forwarding on movie nights!", Rory squealed.

"Movie nights?", Emily wondered.

"You really consider this worthy of our movie night rules?", Lorelai asked.

"Of course! We've done everything else: We've talked, we've mocked, we've eaten, and at the end we'll have felt sick", Rory elaborated.

"Fine. No more fast-forwarding", Lorelai agreed.

"You have rules for your movie nights?", Emily asked.

"We sure do, mom", Lorelai replied.

"But why do you have them?", her mother inquired.

"Well, it's tradition. When we have people over for a movie, they need to know what is allowed. It's like a game", Rory told her grandmother.

"Why would anyone need rules to watch a movie?", Emily asked, slightly shaking her head.

"I think the first one to join us was Lane, and she wasn't allowed to watch TV at home, so we felt the need to explain things to her", Rory stated.

"Right, and when Dean came over for the first time, he knew nothing about movie night, I think he even brought a salad", Lorelai remarked.

"No, that wasn't his first time. I think he did that on Donna Reed night. Remember movie night with Max? He talked when he wasn't supposed to, and fell asleep! Just like Luke", Rory said carelessly.

Speaking of rules, Lorelai couldn't believe that her daughter just broke one of her longest standing rules: Don't tell the Gilmores about their private lives. Slowly exhaling, Lorelai did the countdown in her head. Three, two, one...

"Luke? Luke fell asleep during movie night? When? How? Where?", Emily asked.

For the eldest Gilmore girl this was surprising. Among the male movie night guests, Luke was the only one who hadn't been in a relationship with her daughter or her granddaughter.

"It was just two friends watching a movie together, mom, nothing special. It only happened once, and it's been like a year since it happened. I think it was the time you called and he answered the phone", Lorelai explained begrudgingly.

Emily nodded, but Lorelai knew that the interrogation wasn't over.

"Which movie?", she asked.

"Huh?", Lorelai said.

"Which movie did you watch?", Emily asked again.

"Um, it was movies, actually. He fell asleep during the second one. 'Hardbodies'", Lorelai told her mother.

"And the first one?"

Lorelai felt like she was at the doctor's, and Emily sure knew how to press till it hurts.

"I think it was Casablanca", she said shyly.

Emily's silence spoke volumes. She lifted her left eyebrow, and looked at her daughter like she knew exactly what was going on.

"What, mother?", Lorelai said, knowing there was more to come.

"I haven't said anthing, Lorelai. There is no need for you to look at me like that. That look only confirms what I think you're thinking right now", Emily said brightly.

"And what would that be, mom?", Lorelai wanted to know.

"You feel caught like a child with a hand in the cookie jar."

"I do not. Why would I? Because I watched a movie with a friend?", Lorelai asked.

"Yes", Emily confirmed.

"Why?"

"Because it wasn't any movie, and it wasn't any friend, Lorelai. It was a romantic movie with Luke, your only male friend", Emily said triumphantly.

"It was a classic movie, because Luke hadn't seen it. And he's not my only male friend", Lorelai defended herself.

"Who else are you friends with from the other sex?", Emily asked challengingly.

"I have plenty of male friends, mom. For starters, there's Jackson."

"Your best friend's husband."

"Michel."

"Your employee."

"Kirk."

"According to your own statement from a few months ago, he's walking anthrax."

"Fine, mom, Luke's my only male friend, and I watched a romantic movie with him. Are you happy? How many male friends do you have?", a defeated Lorelai asked.

"That is beside the point, Lorelai. I just want you to realize that it's certainly not a casual friends thing. It is a choice."

"Whatever you say, mom", Lorelai said, rolling her eyes.

"Who suggested it?", Emily wanted to know.

"The movie? I did."

"Why did you suggest it?"

Lorelai sighed.

"Luke was in a bad mood, and I wanted to distract him", Lorelai explained.

Her mother nodded satisfactorily.

After another thirty minutes of more or less silent watching, Lorelai took the last biscotti out of the bag, and shared it with Rory.

Out of the blue, Emily asked, "What about Jason? Did he fall asleep, too?"

Lorelai shifted in her seat, her eyes asking Rory what to do. Her daughter gave her the slightest nod.

"No, he didn't. We never had a movie night. And even if we had, I doubt he would have fallen asleep", Lorelai admitted, while only Rory knew the truth to the statement.

"Why is that? Does he drink as much coffee as you do?", Emily asked.

Lorelai sighed. "No, but Jason has insomnia. And we broke up. Partly because of that."

Emily's face showed pure astonishment. Her look told Lorelai to continue.

"I've realized that this relationship wasn't going to last. Jason can't sleep with someone else in the same bed, and I didn't love him. He wasn't really trying, and I've needed my boyfriend."

"When?", Emily asked.

"I guess, I've known it for a longer time, but I had so much on my plate, and I didn't take the time to think about it, so I've kind of put it off."

"I meant when you broke up."

"Almost two weeks ago."

Emily nodded. "Interesting", she said under her breath.

"What is?", Lorelai asked her mother.

"It's interesting that you never seem to take your time to think about romantic issues", Emily stated.

"You don't know that, mom. I had an inn to open, Rory wasn't here, Luke wasn't here."

"What's your excuse for not thinking about you and Luke, Lorelai?"

"Mom, he's married. Why would I think about starting something with him? I'm not gonna break up a marriage", an angry Lorelai defended herself, knowing that her last statement must have felt like a knife in the gut for her daughter, adding, "Besides, since when are you the relationship expert? Last I checked you and dad were sleeping in separate bedrooms."

Lorelai knew she had gone too far. She quickly put her hand in front of her mouth. Unfortunately, that was another tradition. Gilmores knew how to use their words to hurt the ones they love.

"I'm so sorry, mom. I had no right to say that. I'm really sorry."

"It's quite alright, Lorelai. But I think you should go now. I'm tired. Staring at the TV for over three hours gave me a headache, I don't know how the two of you do it", Emily remarked.

"Mom, I am so sorry. Please believe me", Lorelai pleaded.

"I believe you. But it's getting late. I'll see you on Tuesday for lunch", Emily said.

Rory and Lorelai were ushered to the door, and seconds later stood in front the Gilmore mansion.

"And you said the plan was lame...", Lorelai said to her daughter.

"Mom, have you seen grandma's face? She was so shocked, I've never seen her like this!"

"Sure you have! Remember that one maid who wore the mourning band because her aunt's hamster had died?"

"I hope you're happy. She's probably upstairs crying right now."

"So? I've cried countless times after Friday Night Dinner."

"But this was the second annual ballroom and biscotti night! Grandma was so happy when we asked her if she would want to join us."

"Calm down, Rory. She'll be fine. Besides, you were on board! You want them to reconcile, don't you?"

"Of course I want that. But are you sure you want to go through with it?"

"Rory, those are the two most stubborn people in the world! Do you think they'll get back together because of a stupid dog like in that 'Sex and the City' episode where Susan Sharon and her grumpy husband's marriage is saved by Charlotte's dog?", Lorelai asked with raised eyebrows.

"No, of course not. You're right. We gotta try it this way. I'll drive to New Haven now. I'm a bit tired myself", Rory said and with that got into her car and drove off.

* * *

On her way home, Lorelai thought about what her mother had said. The thing was that Luke right now was off limits, and he has been for almost two years. Lorelai wasn't sure what to make of her mother's statement that she was just making excuses for not considering him as a... boyfriend. Even _thinking_ the word was problematic. Lorelai didn't think that the word would be appropriate for Luke. First of all, he wasn't a boy. Luke was a man, from head to toe. She couldn't even picture him as a boy. What would teenage Luke have been like? She smiled. Probably a grumpy jock with a bunch of girls following him, ogling him.

As Lorelai drove past Litchfield, she wondered what Luke must be like to live with. He would do the cooking, no doubt about that. Maybe he would even do the laundry. She assumed he and Nicole would have a cleaning lady, or whatever the correct term nowadays might be. _Great, now I'm hallucinating! That truck looks like Luke's. But it can't be. Why would he drive to Stars Hollow on a Friday night, almost at midnight?_

She overtook the truck, and peeked inside. Fifteen minutes later, she was sitting in her car near the town square, waiting for him. When he finally arrived, she immediately walked to the diner.

"Goodnight sir, fancy meeting you here", she said playfully as she approached him.

Luke was standing next to the bed of the truck, loosening the tarp.

"Geez, Lorelai, you scared the living daylights out of me. What are you doing here?", a clearly surprised Luke asked.

"I could ask you the same thing. I live here. You know me, I thought I'd take a midnight stroll through the town", she told him.

"I _do_ know you and you hate physical exercise", he said.

"Well, I have new shoes. I'm breaking them in", she lied.

His eyes wandered down to her feet, and he blinked a few times.

"You have had those shoes for months. So, what are you really doing here?", he wanted to know.

Lorelai walked closer to him. Luke's back leaned against the bed of the truck, and his arms were crossed in front of his chest. She sighed and looked down also.

"I just overtook you on the highway, and the entire 15 minutes home I couldn't come up with a scenario why you would drive to Stars Hollow at night, other than there was a break-in at the diner. So I came here, and there was nothing. Surprise! No break-in in Stars Hollow, the headline for tomorrow's Stars Hollow Gazette."

He only grunted in response. Lorelai walked closer still, she now was standing right before him.

"Luke?"

He sighed, and slowly lifted his head to look her in the eyes. He couldn't help but realize that their many phone calls over the summer helped her recognize when something was up with him, something he had mastered for her many years ago. As he looked into her bright blue eyes, which were framed by her glasses that night, Luke knew that he'd have to come clean. And he didn't even feel like she was pressuring him, he wanted to tell her.

"Nicole and I had a fight. I'm staying at my old place tonight", he admitted.

"Do you guys need a dog?", Lorelai asked.

Luke had no idea what she was talking about. "What? Why?", he asked.

"Some couples can find their way back together because of a dog", she explained.

"I doubt that a dog could help us", Luke said indifferently.

"I'm sorry, Luke. Did you fight about the anniversary party?", she asked quietly.

"You could say that. We fought about the party, and about everything else. It's over, Lorelai. We're over. For good. I'm moving back here."

Lorelai hugged him. "I'm really sorry, Luke."

"It's OK", he mumbled into her hair.

"What happened?", Lorelai asked as she slipped out of the embrace.

"It was the damn party. I thought I could do it, but it didn't feel right. She said I wasn't willing to do anything for our marriage, and I couldn't get your voice out of my head", he told her.

"It's a pretty good voice", she joked, which earned her a chuckle.

"Two weeks ago, on the phone, you told me to get it over with. You meant the party, but that wasn't the thing I had to get over with. She said she won't be home tomorrow, so I move my stuff back here. It's not much anyway."

"You need help?", she offered.

"Don't you have to work tomorrow?"

"They can survive a day without me. Besides, I think it could be fun", she smiled.

"Have you ever moved?", he asked incredulously.

"Duh! I moved twice already! Plus, we moved all of Rory's stuff to Yale last year, and tell me that wasn't fun!"

His scowl gave her the answer. "Fine, but we'll have to start early. No later than 8. AM that is."

"Great!", she said and gave him her hand.

They shook on it, Luke rolling his eyes.

"But wait!", Lorelai said suddenly, adding, "Where are you gonna sleep tonight? All your furniture's gone."

"Don't worry about it. I still have Jess' air mattress in a closet somewhere."

"You could sleep on my couch. It's not the most comfortable, but getting up is easier than from an air mattress", she said.

"No, Lorelai, it's fine", he shook his head.

"But do you even have sheets? And a blanket? And a pillow? And towels?", she listed.

Luke thought for a moment.

"Are you sure?", he asked.

Lorelai nodded.

"Fine", he agreed.

Ten minutes later Lorelai took a pillow and blanket from the closet and threw it on the couch. She went to the kitchen to get Luke a glass of water, and placed it on the coffee table. He went to the downstairs bathroom, and she prepared the couch for him. When he entered the living room in a t-shirt and sweatpants, she wondered if he ever wore anything else in bed. It was the same thing he wore over a year ago when she crashed at his place. She saw the disgusted look on his face, and asked, "Are you OK?"

"Your toothpaste tastes like cinnamon."

"So? Don't you like cinnamon?", she asked.

"I like cinnamon fine, but not in toothpaste", he said.

"I assume you don't like Big Red chewing gum then?"

He simply shook his head.

"OK, I'll let you sleep now. We have an early day tomorrow", she said and walked to the staircase.

"Are you sure it's OK I sleep here? Jason won't mind?", Luke asked worriedly.

"No, he won't. Don't worry about it, OK?", she said, and went upstairs.

Luke sat on the couch, his elbows on his knees, and his face in his hands. He heard her heels clicking a few times before she took them off. Soon, she walked into the bathroom, and Luke heard the water running, then the toilet was flushed. A few minutes later, she was done, and walked back into her bedroom.

"Night, Luke", she yelled.

"Night", he whispered, knowing he was nowhere near the point to fall asleep.

* * *

The next day, they stood in Luke's study in his Litchfield townhouse, looking at the last few boxes that held his trophies, and the few books he owned. Lorelai leaned against the doorframe, looking at his back. She wanted to give him a minute to say goodbye to the room, the house, and his marriage. He picked up the lightest box, and gave it to Lorelai.

"At least I got to see your house", she said with a weak smile.

"Yeah", he said, grabbed the bigger box and both went downstairs.

He placed his set of keys on the end table in the foyer.

Lorelai swallowed, and said, "Reminds me of the last episode of 'Friends', but I don't have a key to put there also."

To her surprise he replied, "You definitely would be Phoebe."

She laughed, and gave him a look of amazement.

"I know things", he said, waited for her to go through the door, followed her outside, leaving behind the house and the world drenched in beige and light gray.

After riding back to Stars Hollow in silence, she said, "You know around that time last year you were just as sad, and we had a movie night."

He simply nodded.

"So I was thinking that in the last weeks when you were in Maine, we had this tradition of talking on the phone a couple times a week. Ever since you got back, we only saw each other at the diner. But I miss our conversations, and spending time with you other than in a customer-diner owner capacity. What do you say we have a new tradition and have a movie night. I mean not every week, but maybe a couple times a month, we get together, maybe you could join me and Rory, or when she has to study, you could still come over."

Luke didn't have to think. He knew he would gladly spend some time with a friend right now.

"Sure, how about tonight?", he asked her, adding "I mean if you're not too tired. It's still early, you could rest a little, if you're spent."

"Great, it's a date. And yes, I might need a little disco nap. Moving your stuff is way more exhausting than moving girly stuff", she said matter-of-factly.

He lightly shook his head and smiled at her comment.

* * *

**I hope you liked the chapter, I sure enjoyed writing it. Be nice and leave me a review. I only read them religiously.**


	11. Chapter Eleven: A Crazy Week

**AN**: Hello, my beloved readers! I hope you're all doing OK. Like you I'm thrilled to get the GG revival, don't fuck it up, Amy! I'm honestly flattered to no end that I got so many new follows after the last chapter. Wow! Thanks for the reviews and faves and what not, you're great. I wanna thank _Junienmomo _for her words of encouragement and her amazing beta work! And a big shout-out to _DSLeo_ who always knows how to cheer me up when I'm down. I don't know what I'd do without you two. I still don't own the rights, but I did get a Luke's mug for my birthday. It was about time. Haha, no pun intended. Or maybe it was...

Enough with the talking, read my longest chapter so far (you're welcome)!

* * *

Chapter Eleven: A Crazy Week

It was on a late Tuesday morning when Lorelai entered Luke's diner, her purse on her right arm and a plant in her other. Luke was standing in his usual place behind the counter, the phone between his ear and shoulder. He acknowledged her presence with a nod in her general direction. She smiled but went directly to the curtain and went upstairs. When she entered the apartment upstairs, she heard his heavy footsteps quickly following her.

"What are you doing up here?", he asked annoyed.

"Hi Luke, nice to see you too. Did you have a nice morning? Well, that's impossible because I wasn't in for breakfast. I went shopping for a plant for this sorry place you call home", she said, smiling at him and showing the plant she had picked for him earlier.

"My morning was nice and quiet, and my apartment is fine and in no need of some green thing that will be a sad and brown thing in less than two weeks", he growled.

Lorelai ignored him, put her purse on the kitchen table, and went around the apartment to look for a suitable place for the plant.

"You should get your ears checked, I said I didn't need your plant. What did you buy it for anyway?"

"It's a house-warming present. Your home is in desperate need of warmth. Look at this place! All the wood and shades of brown. A plant would be good", Lorelai replied, placed the plant next to the window and walked towards Luke.

She took her hair and pushed it back to show him her ears.

"My ears are fine. Don't they look fine?", she asked him.

He noticed the earrings he had given to her earlier that year, smiled and nodded.

"I thought so. So, let me know when you've picked a new color, and we'll start painting, OK?", she said, grabbed a color palette from her purse and gave it to him.

"No!", he shook his head.

"Come on, Luke. We never got to paint your diner together."

"Because you stood me up!", he pointed out.

"I know", Lorelai said sadly, adding, "And that was awful. I'm not proud of that night, OK? So, do-over?"

"No."

"Please, Luke, it'll be fun. We could just paint your bedroom nook. You don't have your new bed yet, so there won't be any major furniture in the way. Plus, think of all the cigarettes Jess smoked in here. This might be a good way to get rid of the smell. And afterwards we can have pizza, I'll compromise on low-fat-cheese even, and then we'll have a movie night at your place for a change. Rory won't be here this weekend. What do you say?"

"Lorelai, please don't get this wrong, but I just broke up with a woman who was getting on my nerves with paint samples and furniture stuff all the time. And I'm glad this is behind me, so please don't force me to do this. Why do all women see me as some kind of project?", he said and raised his voice with the last sentence. "I already told you that I'm not a guy that likes to be forced to eat French food. This is the decorating equivalent of French food! This is _my_ place, not yours. If you want to redecorate an apartment, then do it with your boyfriend's", he almost yelled, and regretted being so harsh immediately.

Lorelai's silence threw him for a bit. She turned away from him, trying not to show him the tears that hadn't escaped yet her eyes, and took her purse. On her way to the still open frosted glass door, he said, "Lorelai, wait. I'm sorry, OK?"

"I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have tried to talk you into something you don't want to do. And for the record, he's not my boyfriend anymore", she said with a weak voice and left the apartment.

* * *

Lorelai decided she was too upset to drive to the inn, so she took a walk to clear her head. She couldn't believe that Luke had implied she wanted to change him in any way. She just wanted to take the opportunity and paint his apartment as long as there was no bed in the way. The crisp October air in her nose, she sniffed a few times and pulled her coat closer around her body. Why was Luke so annoyed? She was just making a suggestion. When Lorelai finally arrived at the Dragonfly, she went straight to the kitchen and reached for the coffee pot.

"Hi Lorelai", Sookie greeted her.

"Hey Sookie", Lorelai replied and greedily gulped down half the cup of coffee.

"Whoa, weren't you just at Luke's? Did he refuse to give you coffee? That man can be very mean, you know. If he has no intention of selling coffee, why open a diner it in the first place? His burger may be fine, but have you tried his meatloaf?", Sookie asked.

When Lorelai wordlessly stared at her best friend, Sookie wrinkled her brow, and took a step closer to her.

"What happened? You look awful. Boys, take ten, OK?", she said and motioned her staff out of the room.

"Am I an awful woman who just wants to change her men?", Lorelai asked after a sigh.

"No! Why? Who says you were?", Sookie wanted to know.

"Well, Luke kinda implied it earlier."

"What happened, sweetie?", the chef asked worriedly.

Lorelai told her the story, then asked, "Does he really see me like that? Oh my God, I am really like that, aren't I?"

"Lorelai, no, that's not true. When have you ever tried to change a man?"

"Well, for starters I tried and failed to get Jason to sleep in a bed with me."

"Honey, every woman before you has probably tried that. That's different though. You just wanted to make it work", Sookie assured her.

"What about Max? I made him move in with me, and to top it with cruelty, I didn't let him come in. Literally", Lorelai went on.

"If I recall correctly he didn't put up much of a fight. He wanted to move here, right?"

"It was the same with Chris though. He would have moved here, if the thing with Sherry hadn't happened."

"Don't be ridiculous, Lorelai. Of course he would have moved here! Why would you and Rory have moved to Boston when he just had moved there for Sherry? Here, take this", Sookie said and pushed a cinnamon bun in Lorelai's hand.

"But Sookie...", Lorelai started.

"Enough. Lorelai, you don't need to worry about that now. As far as I'm concerned you put up with more than enough from Jason and other guys and you never asked crazy things in return. You need to look at it from Luke's point of view. He just got out of a marriage and Nicole decorated their house with things she liked, and didn't even consult with him. Before, Rachel always wanted to change him and make him leave this place. That's just not who he is. I'm sure he'll calm down. Besides, it was just a plant and some paint. It's not like you wanted to rip the flannel off his body or anything."

"Dirty", Lorelai giggled.

"That's better", Sookie commented on her friend's smile. "So, he said women saw him as a project, huh?"

Lorelai nodded as she took a bite from her cinnamon bun.

"That's kind of sad, isn't it?"

Lorelai nodded again.

"So, your mother is coming over for your first Tuesday lunch?", Sookie asked.

"Yes, but I still have over an hour. I have a ton of paper work to do, so I'll be in the office. And thanks, Sookie", Lorelai smiled and hugged her best friend.

* * *

Two hours later, Emily and Lorelai were having coffee after their first lunch.

"So, um, Mom, how are things?", Lorelai asked and took a sip.

"I just told you, Eunice Pierpont Pennington is a grandmother for the second time, and Constance from the DAR seems to be falling deeper and deeper into the scotch", Emily said with indifference.

"I know, I just... You haven't told me how _you_ were. How are things with Dad?"

"Well, my initial disappointment has given way to the realization that this was hardly the first time your father has gone behind my back. It's actually a pattern", Emily explained.

"How do you figure?", Lorelai asked.

"This is just the end of a long chain of instances where he didn't include me in his choices or his life in general. Almost three years ago, he quit his job without telling me about it, the year after that he didn't only surprise Rory and you, but also myself with that little scheme at Yale, where he just made an appointment for Rory with the Dean of Admissions. He told me about his true motives for going into business with Jason, namely stabbing Floyd in the back, but only after it was too late. Then of course everything that had to do with his business decisions while he was in business with Jason, that horrid launch party in Atlantic City, pushing Jason out of the business again. He's kept me out of everything. Not to mention that he lied to me for thirty-nine years and had lunches with Pennilyn Lott.

"I don't know how I could have been so wrong about someone. I warned him that his actions regarding Jason might drive you away from us, but he wouldn't hear about it. Like it didn't matter to him. Like all those years of having you and Rory finally back in our life means nothing to him. I was so afraid that you wouldn't come back to our Friday Night Dinners since Rory has gone to Yale, because our agreement is with her and not with you. But you still came to us, and your father treats this treasure like it's the most normal thing in the world. I guess this is something one can expect from a man who doesn't let his wife in on anything", Emily explained sadly.

Lorelai took her mother's hand, and squeezed it affectionately.

"Mom, I have something to ask you", Lorelai said and Emily gave her an encouraging look.

"I know that in my life I must have done a million things that disappointed you", she started, but was cut off immediately.

"None of that matters anymore, Lorelai. I'm very proud of you", her mother assured her.

"I know that, but it's not about that. Rory has done something disappointing, and though I have forgiven her, I don't know if I can ever forget it", Lorelai stated with a sad expression.

"What did she do?", Emily asked curiously.

"I can't tell you, Mom. It's personal. I'm dying to know how you handled it when I disappointed you, because right now I'm questioning everything I have done for her, if my parenting was basically the wrong approach."

"Nonsense, Lorelai. You're a better mother than I ever was. I'm quite envious of your relationship with your daughter."

"Mom-"

"Wait a minute, let me finish, please. You always put Rory's needs above your own, you made sure she got everything she needed."

"Maybe that's where I made the mistake. I love Rory, but what she did showed me that she takes everything she needs, regardless of the repercussions."

"Goodness, is she in trouble?", Emily asked worriedly.

"No, she's fine. It's just that, ugh, I don't know. Let's just say there was a reason why she went to Europe with you. There were some things she tried to escape from, things she didn't want to deal with. Now that she's back, I hope that she won't repeat her mistake."

"That sounds ominous. Are you sure she's alright?", Emily was wondering.

"Yes. I'm sorry that I can't get into details", Lorelai stated.

"It's alright. You don't have to betray her trust. Let me just tell you this: When you're a mother, it's certain that the day comes when your child makes a mistake, but you can't change that. If I have learned anything it is that it's not good for the relationship when you think you know what's best for your child. I regret that I never asked what you wanted, or when you said it I didn't hear or want to hear it. Rory is a good girl, I'm sure whatever she has done wasn't to harm anyone."

"Thanks, Mom", a touched Lorelai said and stood up to hug her mother.

"I don't believe this!", a deep voice behind them loudly said.

Both turned around.

"Dad!", Lorelai gasped.

"Richard!", Emily squealed.

"Is this why you told me to come here, Lorelai? To meet your mother? Unbelievable!", Richard yelled.

"Dad, keep it down, please!", Lorelai asked him.

"This is outrageous! You told me to come her to take a look at your insurance for the inn, and all it was is a scheme?!"

"Richard, calm down!", Emily told her husband.

Sooner than Lorelai could understand what was happening, her parents were yelling at each other, and she was desperately trying to usher them into her office. When she accomplished that task, all she had to do was lock them in, so they could finally solve their problems. Everything was going according to plan and she was standing outside her office, her ear pressed against the door.

"What are we doing?", Sookie asked.

"Eavesdropping on my parents", Lorelai whispered.

"Ooh, the big plan. How is it going?"

"Great! The banging on the door has stopped. My Dad has just found the note I left on my desk."

"Which version did you end up writing on it?", Sookie wanted to know.

"I went with B: 'Mom flirted with randy European men, but all she would think about was that nothing felt the same without you'."

"You're such a good daughter. Very 'The Parent Trap'", Sookie remarked.

"Let's just hope it'll turn out the same way", Lorelai said.

"I'll leave you to it then", Sookie said and vanished into the kitchen.

After a few minutes of silence, Lorelai was sure they had made up. Suddenly she heard words like 'legacy', 'illegal', '$100,000' and her own name. When those words kept being said for the next minute and a half, she decided to unlock the door and walk into her office.

"What the hell is going on with you guys? Why do I hear my name and $100,000 all the time?", Lorelai asked with her arms crossed before her chest.

"Why don't you explain it to our daughter, Emily?", Richard said.

Emily remained silent.

"Then let me enlighten you, Lorelai. When my mother died, she left you some money. We didn't know how much at first, so we didn't say anything. After settling the estate, I wanted to give the money to you, anything else would have been illegal", Richard explained.

"But your mother begged me to hold it back for some reason. But this is your legacy, Lorelai, and I'm sick of hearing your mother talk behind my back that I kept things a secret from her when she did the exact same thing with you for weeks. I will no longer support this hypocrisy. So I will no longer delay giving you this check for $100,000", he said, and took the piece of paper from his pocket to give it to Lorelai.

She took it with eyes as big as saucers, and looked at her mother, expecting an apology. When it didn't come, Lorelai shook her head.

"I can't believe this. Why did you do this?", Lorelai asked her mother incredulously.

"I wanted to have some time alone with my daughter. We haven't had a Friday Night Dinner in weeks, and I had no opportunity to see you", Emily explained sheepishly.

"Then why didn't you just ask me to lunch? Why does this family always do things like this? Why does everything have to be an obligation? Did it ever occur to you that this has never been fun because I was always forced to do it? Why didn't you ever let me breathe? After everything you just said to me about Dad going behind your back!", Lorelai yelled.

"But that was different", Emily snapped.

"How is it different?", Richard wanted to know.

"Because what I did didn't endanger your livelihood or our relationship. You already have the money you needed for the inn, Lorelai. What your father did was treat me like an incapable child who could not be trusted with important financial decisions. He didn't consult with me on anything", Emily defended herself.

"The action is the same, mother. Dad belittled you, and you belittled me."

"I most certainly did not belittle you. I tried to protect you, Emily", Richard objected.

"Protect me? From what?", Emily asked her husband.

"You think you know all the details behind this, but you don't. All I did was secure our future and our pensions. I have just told you I was sorry, Emily. Please believe me that I truly am. I can't stand the thought of another night in a different bed. So please forgive me", Richard begged.

Everyone was quiet for a while. Finally, Emily spoke.

"Fine, I forgive you, Richard. But things will have to change."

Lorelai didn't know what to think. Her plan had worked, but she wasn't at all expecting the turn it made. She inherited $100,000 from her grandmother. And apparently her mother kept it a secret. She never thought Emily would be capable of such a thing.

Lorelai quickly scribbled something on a piece of paper and handed it to her mother.

"Here's your money back", she said.

Emily didn't want the check, but took it begrudgingly, and said, "Tell Rory I'll expect her on Friday night. Goodbye."

Lorelai sank to the floor, and for second time in a day felt the tears rise in her eyes.

* * *

After a talk with Sookie, Lorelai went home, straight to bed. Could this week get any worse? It was only Tuesday. After an unsuccessful attempt to catch up on some sleep, Lorelai gave up, and called Rory. She told her about her awful day, her argument with Luke and the grande finale after lunch.

"I can't believe your plan worked!", Rory said.

"Our plan", Lorelai interjected.

"So how are you doing?"

"I've never thought I'd be unhappy to get $70,000. But I can't really be happy about that."

"Why $70,000?", Rory asked.

"The $100,000 minus the $30,000 I already paid my mother back. Don't they teach you anything at Yale?"

"I didn't take math yet. Have you thought about what you'd want to do with it?", Rory asked.

"Well, I don't know how much it costs to change your name, but that's gonna be one of the first investments", Lorelai said.

"A name change? Any ideas yet?"

"Right now I'm torn between Hildegard Przbyszewski and Persephone Willow Snapper."

"Hm. Interesting. Mom, I gotta go, Paris thinks we have cockroaches and the exterminator will be here any minute, but I'll call you tomorrow, OK?"

"OK, bye hon."

"Bye, Hildegard."

* * *

TGIF. Not only has this been a great day because some very necessary mother-daughter shopping was done, it was also Rory's birthday. Rory didn't want to have a big party this year, so the Gilmore girls spent the day at the mall. Lorelai didn't want to go to her parents, although it was her daughter's birthday. She'd rather spend the night alone than at the Gilmore mansion.

It was also the first birthday in the Gilmore house in a long time where Luke's coffee and his food was missing on the breakfast table. Lorelai had avoided the diner the entire week. She craved his coffee more than anything, but she stayed strong. His words never left her mind. She honestly thought that he might have a point. Maybe she didn't want to change men per se, but as she had given the topic more thought over the week, she came to the conclusion that she very much liked her routine.

When she had Luke over for their first movie night over a year ago, she picked movies he would probably not like, and she did the same less than a week ago after she had helped him move his things back to Stars Hollow. They had watched _Breakfast at Tiffany's_ and _Curly Sue. _The thing that bugged Lorelai the most was that at first Luke always says no to everything, but later he usually goes along with it anyway. It was not like she had forced anything on him.

"So, what are you gonna do tonight?", Rory's voice pulled Lorelai out of her thoughts.

"Um, Sookie made me pumpkin lasagna, and I'm gonna watch _Some Kind of Wonderful._"

"Lucky Lorelai. Grandma's angry dinners are always the worst."

"I remember. Rabbit in aspic in 2002, or when Gran moved back to Hartford in 2003 we had squab. I think I have to rinse my mouth with a piece of chocolate after even thinking about it!", Lorelai said with a shudder, and reached for the bar on the coffee table.

"Better?", Rory asked as she watched her mother chew.

"Way better. The best. Kiss for mommy?", Lorelai said an pursed her lips.

Mother and daughter had said their goodbyes, and Lorelai got up to put the lasagna into the microwave. By the time Keith had asked out Amanda Jones, Lorelai was full, and stretched her limbs on the couch. A weird noise made her pause the tape, and check her surroundings. It seemed to come from outside, but her position on the couch prevented her from seeing anything. Her sock-covered feet carried her to the entryway, where she grabbed the bowl that held her keys as some sort of weapon, and quickly opened the front door.

"Lorelai!", a startled and slightly scared-looking Luke said, adding, "I thought you were in Hartford. Your car's not here!"

"It's at Gypsy's. What are you doing here?", she asked him with knitted brows. Then she saw the color palette in his left hand, and a thermos in his right.

"I haven't seen you since the... thing on Tuesday, and I, uh, I wanted to make you a peace offer", Luke said shyly and gave her the thermos.

"Coffee?", she asked needlessly.

He nodded, and shifted on his feet.

"Listen, I thought about what you said, and I'd like to take you up on your offer to paint my bedroom. Ed will help me transport my new bed tomorrow afternoon, so if it's not too short notice I'm free tomorrow morning."

Lorelai shook her head and went back inside, the front door still open.

"No, Luke. I can't", she said as she sat down on the couch and propped her feet up on the coffee table.

"Yeah, I know it's short notice", he said as he followed her and sat down next to her.

"That's not it. I don't want you to paint your apartment just for me. It's your place, I'll never be living there, so why do me a favor?", she asked defiantly.

"You just caught me off guard. I had just moved back here three days before, and I guess I didn't want to change anything in my place, because I wanted to feel at home", he explained.

"So? What changed? I certainly don't want to be like Nicole, especially since this is your place alone, Luke."

"You're not like Nicole in any way. I actually like the idea to give the bedroom a different color. I don't have walls, so it'd be nice. I picked this one", he said as he showed her the color palette and pointed with his index finger to the pale square.

"Why are you doing this? You really don't have to", Lorelai told him.

"But I want to."

"It wasn't your idea."

"So? Just because it wasn't my idea doesn't mean it was a bad one or anything."

"It's because of the plant, OK?", Lorelai said to Luke's surprise.

"What is?", Luke asked with a frown.

"You were right, Luke. Maybe I was trying to change you. I gave Jason a plant as well. I don't know why I did it. I like my routine, and I want to apologize for always picking movies you probably don't like. So please don't repaint your apartment on my account. _You_ have to feel comfortable there", Lorelai insisted.

"I'm not doing it on your account. Is Rory in Hartford by herself?", Luke wanted to know.

Lorelai explained Rory's absence, told him about her wealth, and her parents' reconciliation.

"You have to talk to your mother, Lorelai", Luke said matter-of-factly.

"I know, I just don't want to."

"Just promise me you will try to forgive her."

That last statement puzzled Lorelai. Why was Luke an Emily apologist all of a sudden?

"Since when are you Kofi Annan?", Lorelai asked him incredulously.

"I don't wanna play the dead parents card, but there will come a time when your parents won't be there, and you'll miss them."

"I know that, but-", Lorelai said before Luke interrupted her.

"I miss the fights my dad and I had. In the end, he knew me very well, and I knew he was right with some things. He kept telling me that Rachel would only break my heart, and he was right in the end. Sometimes I wonder if I let her come back just to prove my dad right."

"Is that true?", Lorelai asked.

"Maybe a little. Just don't let too much time pass before you forgive her, OK?"

"OK."

"So."

"So, you wanna stay?", Lorelai asked as she stood up and finally closed the still open front door.

"If I'm not interrupting."

"Of course you are, but what does it matter? I was gonna finish my movie, but what if we watched a true guy movie?", Lorelai offered.

"Which one?"

"_Bull Durham_. I picked it up yesterday and haven't watched it in ages. In case you haven't seen it: Baseball, Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon, Sex", Lorelai gave him the cues.

"OK", Luke said in his typical Luke way, not very enthusiastic.

Almost two hours later, ther credits were rolling.

"So, the baseball players clearly were just actors. Their bodies were too thin, not muscular enough, especially the arms. Was there one name in the movie that didn't end with a -y? But most importantly, I can't believe Crash wrote on that note 'Let's fuck sometime' and he actually got the girl in the end", Luke ranted.

Lorelai listened and couldn't help but smile. "Why, are you a prude, Butch?", she asked playfully.

"That is simply not the way to get the girl. It's too crude."

"Clearly you're the expert here, but you must have gotten that nickname for a reason, right?"

"That had nothing to do with girls. It was because of the sports I played", he said innocently.

"Come on, Luke. Why would guys call another guy 'Butch'? I'm sure there had to be a girl who spread the name 'Butch Danes'."

"Could we talk about something else?", he asked.

"Alright, I'll stop."

"Isn't Rory coming back tonight?", he said as he checked his watch.

"No, she's driving back to Yale after dinner. Why?"

"It's nothing. I just hadn't said happy birthday, because she didn't come in this morning", he said as he got up and walked to the door.

Lorelai followed him with knitted brows. Luke opened the door, and grabbed the box and came back in. They were standing in the foyer.

"Your cell phone has a camera?", he asked her.

"Yeah."

"OK, then take a picture of the content of this box and send it to Rory. I'll wait", he said as he opened the box.

"Luke, that's so nice!", Lorelai said and reached for the cell phone in her coat pocket.

"Well, I've made her one every year, so this is no exception", he brushed it aside.

Lorelai took a photo and sent it to Rory. A few seconds later she got the reply and read it to Luke.

"'Thanks, Luke. Tell Mom not to eat it all at once.' Right, like I'd eat my daughter's birthday coffee cake!", she snorted.

"Why else would I have forced you to at least send Rory a picture of it? She won't get a crumb of this", Luke said gruffly.

"You know me too well", Lorelai said sheepishly.

"Well, what can I say."

"Seriously, Luke. You didn't have to do this. Her dad hasn't even called her yet. He still has a good 40 minutes...", Lorelai said, knowing very well that Chris forgot her birthday again.

Lorelai took the box, put it on the side table, and hugged Luke tightly.

"Grab your brush and grab your rollers", she started to sing.

"Not that stupid painting song again! Wait, does that mean you'll help me tomorrow?"

"Sure am! So that means you have to go now, because I need my beauty sleep", Lorelai said as she ushered him out.

"No you don't. I know you just want to eat the cake now."

"So what's the difference? True beauty comes from the inside. And what looks more beautiful than that cake inside my stomach?"

"Stop grossing me out!", Luke said and made a face.

She put her hands on his shoulders, and gave him a peck on his stubbly cheek.

"Thanks again, Luke. That was so sweet. Good night", she said and closed the door.

Luke touched the skin she had just kissed, and with a smile said, "Night."

* * *

**I didn't come up with the name _Persephone Willow Snapper_. I stole it from a _Suits_ Webisode about a button. If you're not too lazy, google and watch it, it's fun! _Hildegard Pryzbyszewski_ is a creation of mine though. **

**Did you like the chapter? Reviewers are my favorite readers!**


	12. Chapter Twelve: Oh Happy Day

**AN:** Hey, everyone! Are you still there? Are y'all doing alright? Don't stress yourselves out in the hasty pre-Christmas mess. I want to thank you all for being patient with me and stuck with this story! As always, thanks so much **Junienmomo** for your amazing beta work, and of course **DSLeo **for helping me in a tricky situation and your general awesomeness! Read, enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter Twelve: Oh Happy Day**

Lorelai stepped back to admire her work. With a satisfied smile she went to open the windows in order to get the new paint smell out of the apartment. She had sent Luke and Ed to pick up the new bed, since Luke was only in the way in the little bedroom nook. He had helped with the preparations, and was glad that there was no major furniture moving necessary. Lorelai felt at ease when she painted. It was soothing, almost meditation. She went to the bathroom to rinse the brush and roller, and just when she was done, she heard Luke's grumpy voice.

"Hey boys, what's up?", she asked as she pushed her head through the open door.

"Hey Lorelai", Ed greeted her.

"One would think that paint this expensive wouldn't smell like the cheap crap they sell at Walmart", Luke cussed.

"Or they would finally reconsider my idea to sell paint that smells like cotton candy", Lorelai said as she walked out of the bathroom.

Luke looked at her in disgust, his hands on his hips.

"Am I going deaf, or did you not say it, Lucas?", she asked playfully.

"Don't call me that. I thought we've established that your ears were fine. So what do you want me to say, Lorelai?"

"Whoa, what's with the attitude? Isn't today the happiest of days?", she tried to appease him.

"It's not Danish Day if that's what you're asking", he mumbled.

"Luke, what is it with you today? You didn't have to do the actual painting, and you can finally sleep in a bed tonight, something you haven't done in over a week. If I didn't know better, I'd say it's PMS!"

Ed chuckled at the thought, but was silenced by the look Luke gave him.

"He's havin' girlfriend troubles", Ed blurted out.

"Girlfriend troubles?", Lorelai asked incredulously.

"Ed!", Luke said at the same time.

"OK, I'm leaving. Carol needs the car anyway. Bye Lorelai. Good luck, Lucas", Ed said and with a wave of his hand was gone.

"So?", Lorelai asked expectantly. "Do you like it?"

"It's fine. Listen, I still need to set up the bed. So I better get to it", Luke said curtly.

"Anything I can help you with?", Lorelai asked.

"Not really. I'd appreciate it if you'd clean up that mess", he said and pointed to the still covered floor and the masking tape that surrounded the door frames.

Lorelai nodded and started cleaning up. When she was almost done, she asked Luke where to find a trash bag. Having his hands full, he motioned his head to the right kitchen cabinet. When she walked past him, her hand grabbed his baseball cap. Startled, he dropped the plank, which noisily crashed on the floor.

"Damn it, Lorelai!", he cursed.

"Relax, Luke. Seriously, what is up with you today?"

"It's nothin'", he said unconvincingly.

"Come on, who are you trying to kid? I know something's up, Ed knows something's up, I guess everyone you talked to since you left earlier knows something's up", Lorelai insisted as she took a seat on the trusty leather sofa.

Luke sighed, but joined her on the couch.

"I ran into Nicole earlier", he admitted.

"Oh", Lorelai said empathically.

"And she said some things, and let's, um, just say she hit a nerve", Luke told her.

"What'd she say?", Lorelai asked quietly.

"She, uh, first said that she'll draw up the divorce papers this week. When I thanked her, she said that she's already pitying my next girlfriend because she's always gonna be placed second."

"Well, the diner is your livelihood, so no reason to take that too seriously, right?"

"She meant behind you, Lorelai. She still thinks our marriage didn't work because I couldn't commit to her because of you", he admitted quietly.

"Really? I thought it didn't work because she cheated on you, and you didn't want that huge anniversary party."

"That's Nicole. She has someone new to blame every week. As long as _she_ did nothing wrong..."

"But you said she hit a nerve. Why do you still let her get to you?", Lorelai asked him.

"Look, this is gonna sound bad, but what the hell, I'm gonna say it anyway. My marriage failed on its own merit, but there were contributing factors."

"What do you mean? That I contributed to this?", Lorelai wanted to know.

"I mean that Nicole made me choose, and I didn't choose her. But she made me choose in the first place because she's not a good person, and because of her own insecurities. She didn't trust me, when I was the one who had reasons not to trust her. How good of a relationship was it anyway when she cheated, and later thinks I'm cheating on her just to pay her back? She was even willing to let it pass", Luke explained.

"Wait, what? What are you talking about?", Lorelai wondered.

Luke exhaled, then turned to look her in the eye.

"OK, remember a few months back when we ran into each other in Manhattan?", Luke started.

"Your chocolate pie orgasm, how could I forget?", she smiled, which earned her a grunt.

"You had put your wallet in the car already, and I paid the bill. Two weeks later, Nicole opened my mail because I was in Maine already, and she saw the credit card bill. She asked me why on the day of our lunch in the city I went to a coffee shop and had four pieces of pie with three caramel macchiatos and peppermint tea. Apparently she called there and asked for an itemized bill. Needless to say she went through my stuff while I was absent and found something she considered proof for my... thing for you, as she put it", Luke said and paused.

"She called there for an itemized bill? This is straight from a Seinfeld episode, isn't it? What on earth did she find?"

"She found the photo of us Rachel had taken at the Founder's festival four years ago. It was in my study at our house. She went through my entire desk when I was away."

"Whoa. How could she? This is private. And she thought that picture and the pie meant you were banging me?", Lorelai asked incredulously.

"Pretty much."

"That's insane."

"Yup."

After a while of silence, Lorelai said, "Why'd you keep it?"

"The picture? It's a nice picture. I don't own many of Rachel's photographs. She was always talented. Nicole read too much into it."

Lorelai nodded.

"Do you remember the night?", she asked him.

"The festival? Sure. I remember the fire not being lit, I remember it was pretty cold, I remember holding Rachel's hair when she threw up all night", Luke told her.

"Oh yeah, it was rather cold that night. My mother had set me up on a blind date, I told you I had climbed out the window, and you didn't even want to know why", Lorelai said, shaking her head.

"I didn't think it was true. Most things you say sound too exaggerated to be true", Luke said gruffly.

"Did you just call me a liar?", Lorelai asked in mock-anger.

"So you really did climb out the window? To escape that blind date?"

"Yeah, he was just so boring, even my father hated him."

"Wow, that must have been tough for the poor schmuck."

"Come on, there are worse things. I remember in one Sex and the City episode a guy broke up with a girl while being inside her."

"That was on TV. That's different", Luke remarked.

"Wait, wait, wait", Lorelai quickly said, "Did you say Nicole was willing to let it pass if we had had an affair?"

"Yes, she said we could finally be even and be normal around each other again", Luke told her.

"That is just sick!"

"Sure is. So, what is the plan for your painting project? What else is there left to do?", Luke said, desperate for a change of topic.

"I'm pretty much done, maybe I can help you with the bed?", Lorelai offered.

* * *

Three hours later, the floor was wiped, the bed was set up, and Luke straightened the new brown plaid sheets. He sank onto the bed, and let out a sigh of relief.

"So, are you ready to say it now?", Lorelai asked him.

He took a look around, and with a broad, but tired smile, "It looks great. Thanks, Lorelai."

"Now was that so damn hard?"

"I guess not", he shrugged.

"How about I'll order us a pizza, go to the video store, and we'll have a few beers in front of the TV tonight?", Lorelai suggested.

"Sold. I'll just hop under the shower. There should be enough beer in the fridge."

After twenty minutes of grouching, Lorelai won and Luke moved the TV so that they could watch the rest of _Fire Birds _from the bed.

"See, isn't this way better than your couch?", Lorelai asked as she stretched her body on the soft sheets.

"I never said it wouldn't be comfortable, I just didn't want your greasy pizza fingers on my new bed", he grumbled.

"I have to say, I'm quite envious of your bed. But the plaid sheets look kind of... I don't know. Male", she assessed.

"So? I'm a male. Nothing wrong with my sheets", Luke said a took a swig of his beer.

"Fine, you win. With a mattress this comfortable, who gives a shit about the sheets."

Luke couldn't believe his ears. Lorelai had to be tired to give in this easily. He smiled and bore the rest of this dreadful movie.

When he woke up two hours later, Lorelai lay next to him on his bed, softly snoring. He let out an exasperated breath, and went to brush his teeth. Then, he covered her with the blanket, grabbed a pillow, went to the couch, and took the afghan.

"Unbelievable. Now that I have a new bed, she's the one to sleep in it...", he muttered as he draped the afghan over his legs before he drifted off to sleep.

Lorelai blinked a few times before she realized that she was still on Luke's bed, and startled when she saw the sun rising outside.

"Shit!", she yelped when she saw that it was almost 7.30.

She looked around the apartment. "Luke?", she asked.

Nothing.

She saw a pillow and the afghan messily lying on the couch. "Oh no", she mumbled.

After a trip to the bathroom, she went down to the diner, but Luke met her halfway down the stairs with plates and a mug that held the heavenly smelling brew she craved.

"I'm so sorry, Luke. I don't know what to say. I never meant to fall asleep on your bed, in the first night you had it. Please don't tell it Rory, I told her once that the first night is the crucial night where the mattress molds to the body", she nervously said as she danced around him on the narrow staircase.

"Good morning. Breakfast?", Luke said cool as a cucumber and ascended the stairs.

"Yes", she said shyly, adding, "You don't happen to have an extra toothbrush?"

"Sure, it's in the bathroom cabinet. You go, I'll set the table", he replied as he put the plates down on the table.

"For the record, it takes longer than just one night for your body to shape the mattress. Isn't Rory old and smart enough to know better?", Luke asked her as soon as she came out of the bathroom.

"Well, sometimes I make up things just to make her feel better. Like that one time where she felt we hadn't eaten enough vegetables, and I told her the essence of the lettuce we took off our burgers stuck to the meat and gave us all the needed vitamins", Lorelai explained and took a seat.

Luke lifted an eyebrow in response.

"What? We stopped doing it with your burgers", she defended herself.

The eyebrow was still up.

"Eventually", she admitted sheepishly.

There it was. An honest smile. As honest as it can get. The last time he smiled like that was when he paid her a surprise visit at the inn after he came back from Maine. It was contagious. Lorelai smiled broadly as well.

"Eat", he ordered, and added, "_All_ of the fruit."

"Yes sir", she nodded and dug into her banana pancakes.

Their plates were decorated with berries, Lorelai had also a few slices of bacon. She greedily gulped down her coffee, then licked her lips.

"So you're not mad?", she asked carefully.

"Not really. Sleeping in my bed would have been nice, but one more night on the couch didn't kill me", he shrugged and sipped his tea.

They ate and chatted about this and that, when Lorelai remembered she had promised Sookie watch Davey to give them a day off. Lorelai and Luke said their goodbyes, and Lorelai went home for a quick shower.

* * *

"There you are!", Sookie said impatiently.

"Sorry, hon. You won't believe what I'm about to tell you, so fasten your seatbelt. I didn't wake up in my bed this morning, and had to go home for a shower, and I came as soon as I could", Lorelai said and went inside Sookie's house.

"Where did you wake up? Please don't tell me you fell asleep at your desk in the Dragonfly again!"

"No, actually", Lorelai hesitated, "I spent the night at Luke's."

Sookie's eyes were big as saucers. "It's about time!", she bawled.

"Calm down, I just slept there. I was exhausted from painting his bedroom yesterday, so we had pizza, and I fell asleep. He must have woken up at night and moved to the couch. Then we had breakfast, and I remembered I had a rendez-vous with this little cutie", Lorelai said and softly pinched Davey's rosy cheek.

"Uh huh, just slept, huh?"

"Believe me, if anything else had happened, I'd tell you", Lorelai promised.

"Wait, do you think there _could_ be something to be told some day?", Sookie asked.

"Right now, I'm feeling very comfortable with Luke. Our friendship is in a good place. We do things outside the diner that don't have to do anything with home repairs. We talk, it's nice. _If_ there will be something more, and that's a big 'if', I want it to develop from a good, solid base. I can't jump into another relationship just to date some guy. I'm too old for this. My relationship with Jason was a complete waste of time, and I don't want to lose time anymore. Luke is great, and I can't just date him and drop him. He's a good guy, Sookie, he doesn't deserve it."

Sookie listened closely, and nodded reassuringly to her best friend's words which made more sense and were deeper than anything she had heard at nine o'clock on a Sunday.

"Speaking of which, did you do your research?", Lorelai asked and took Davey from his mother's hip.

"Yeah, I asked Jackson to keep his eyes and ears open, and he found out from Fred, who is the produce guy from Woodbury, that there's a place called '_Sniffy's Tavern_'. The proprietor is called Buddy, but his wife is Maisy. You think that's them?"

"I hope. The name is all I have, no last name, nothing. I'll call them today to ask if it's them, and hope they won't tell Luke I called. But you should go, I kept you long enough", Lorelai said.

"You're right. Jackson! Put the paper away, wipe your butt, and flush the toilet already!", she yelled, adding, "Men! I regret the day I suggested a magazine rack next to the toilet every day of my life..."

"More than you regret the pea ice cream disaster of 1997?", Lorelai chuckled.

"Hey, if you can do it with frozen berries and yoghurt, why not with frozen peas and tzatziki? Besides it was during that '_Spice World_' movie and I was drunk!"

The two women laughed wholeheartedly, and even little Davey clapped his hands, though he didn't understand the nonsense they were talking about.

* * *

Four weeks of phone calls, planning and secrets later, Lorelai found herself entering the famous '_Sniffy's Tavern_' in Woodbury. She was greeted by the two friendly faces of Maisy and Buddy.

"So good to finally get a face to the voice", Maisy said and pulled Lorelai close for a warm hug.

"And such a pretty face it is", Buddy remarked and hugged her also.

"Thanks so much you two. Did you already call him? And what's the story you made up so he would show up on his birthday?", Lorelai asked them.

"Told him I threw out my back and needed a cook for tonight. He should be here in an hour", Buddy explained and led Lorelai into the restaurant.

"The pie came on time?", she asked.

"Yes", Maisy replied, "It came earlier today. Must be some fancy pie!"

"It's the best. My friend Sookie tried four different recipes before she gave up. And if you'd know her, you'd know that that's definitely not how she normally works. I recall her making thirty different risottos."

"We'll meet her later", Buddy said.

"Is everyone else coming?", Lorelai wanted to know.

"Liz and TJ will be here soon, also a few of your crazy Stars Hollow people. What about your daughter?", Maisy asked her.

"She'll be here. She first has to dine with my parents. But she promised me she'll make it short."

Within the next 30 minutes Sniffy's was filled with familiar faces, and Lorelai got antsy. When Sharon the waitress finally spotted Luke's truck in the parking lot, she gave them a sign, and everyone got silent.

Luke opened the door, and was greeted with a loud, "Surprise!"

After two hours the party was in full swing, everyone had eaten, and they chatted in small groups. Luke had a beer in his hand, and was more a listener than a talker in the conversations.

"Havin' fun, Butch?", Lorelai said after approaching him.

"Yeah, it's actually nice", he admitted with a smile.

"Lucas, how long would it have taken before you had introduced us to this wonderful woman?", Maisy wanted to know.

"Yeah, _Lucas_, how long?", Lorelai echoed.

"Uh, never I suppose", he shrugged.

"See, Lorelai, I told you it was good you took matters in your own hands", Maisy said and vanished in the kitchen.

"When was the last time you had a surprise birthday party?", Lorelai asked him and took a sip from her coffee.

"Never."

"Really? I had one last year. Without you attending it if my memory doesn't fail me."

"I don't think I had a birthday party since I was a kid. But it's nice. Thanks again", he said and hugged her for the second time that night.

"Wow, look at you. Beer and company make you all touchy-feely", she joked.

Luke just bumped his hip into hers and grinned.

"So are you ready for the big finale?", she asked and wiggled her eyebrows.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

Lorelai took his hand, and gave Buddy a nod. Luke nervously looked at their joined hands and hoped whatever would be coming now, wouldn't be something for a Gilmore girls party. Then, he saw Maisy coming out of the kitchen, followed by Rory, each of them carrying a cake. A few steps behind Sookie came out also, but hers looked different from the other two.

"What's that?", Luke asked Lorelai as he motioned his head over to Sookie.

"That's my gift to you", she replied and gave him her most lovely smile.

When everybody started singing 'Happy Birthday to you' Luke let go of Lorelai's hand and walked over to Sookie. He saw that she had just put a chocolate pie down on the table in front of her.

To his surprise, Lorelai stood behind him again, and whispered into his ear, "Yeah, it's the one you think it is. From New York. Just for you. But if you're willing to share..."

He turned around a couldn't help but laugh.

Having agreed on driving the birthday boy home, Lorelai grabbed Luke and his presents, and both went to her jeep on the parking lot.

"Hey, I need something from my truck", he said and staggered away.

Lorelai put his gifts in the trunk of her car, and waited for Luke to return. When he came back with a tote bag, she asked, "What's in there?"

"Just something I need... for later", he said and got into her jeep.

As they were just entering Stars Hollow, he asked her to turn left. She wrinkled her forehead, but followed his orders. She knew where this road would take them. She just didn't know what he wanted there in the middle of the night.

"Where are we going?", she asked him.

"I'm the one who's a little squiggy, and you ask _me_ where we're going?", he chuckled.

"Well, I know _where_ we're going. But what are we _doing_ there?", Lorelai wanted to know.

"You'll know soon enough", he mumbled.

"Is this the payback for the surprise party? Are you gonna kill me and hastily bury my body in the woods?"

"Sure, this is the moment in the movie where the bad guy reveals his plan to his victim because he's so sure of himself, yet the victim can escape, or the park ranger will help her in the last second", he joked.

"OK, we're here", Lorelai said as she drove on the parking lot.

Luke took the tote bag, got out of the car and walked towards the Dragonfly Inn. Lorelai followed him, and greeted Tobin as they entered the inn. Luke went straight to the dining room, and waited for her in front of the fireplace. Lorelai looked at him expectantly, and Luke wordlessly took the vase from the mantlepiece to put it on the closest table. Lorelai watched him carefully and was curious to see what he would pull out of the mysterious tote bag. When he finally took a picture frame out of the bag, Lorelai gasped. The frame was silver, with an antique look and beautiful embellishments. It held a black and white photograph of Luke's parents on their wedding day in the Dragonfly dining room. Luke carefully placed it on the mantlepiece, and took a step back. Lorelai was speechless. It looked so perfect on its spot.

"Luke, I don't know what to say. It's your birthday and you get something for me?", Lorelai asked, still stunned.

Luke simply nodded. "Do you like it?"

"Are you kidding? It's beautiful! Thanks so much, Luke", Lorelai said and hugged him. "How did you get that great picture frame?"

"I went to Mrs. Kim's and told her to keep her eyes open, to which she said that she even sleeps with her eyes open, and then I had the wedding picture magnified in Hartford. Mrs. Kim came by, and told me she'd found something. When I saw it, I knew it would look great in here. By the way, I talked to Babette, and she told me that in the archives there'd be more photos of weddings at the Dragonfly, so if you want more pictures, just tell Taylor, and he can help you."

"Yes, Taylor can always help others, but what would he want in return? In case you hadn't noticed, he's not as great as you, and makes someone a present on his own birthday. Taylor would probably want me to knit him a few cardigans in order to get access to the archives... Besides, I think this picture is so pretty, no one would notice any other pictures in this room, especially not in this gorgeous picture frame. Thank you again, this is great. You are great", Lorelai told him and hugged him again.

Luke smiled.

"Tired?", Lorelai asked.

He nodded.

"Let's get you home then, big boy."

* * *

**I hope you liked the new chapter. I don't know if I'll have another update this year. In case this is the last chapter in 2015 let me all wish you Happy Holidays! Please let me know how you liked the chapter. Reviewers are my favorite readers!**

**Edit: Yep, I did the frozen peas and tzatziki 'ice cream' thing in 2006 during the soccer world championship when I was, let's just say not sober. **


	13. Chapter Thirteen: A Gallery of Spinach a

**AN: **Hello readers, old and new, borrowed and blue! I wish you all a Happy New Year, a year full of Gilmore and happiness. In a very Gilmore fashion I ate way too much over Christmas, and have taken mental walks around the block many many times. About a year ago I started reading fanfic, and couldn't help but write fanfic maybe a month later. This little story will be finished in maybe 2 or 3 more chapters, which is both great and sad. I big Stars Holla to my great beta **Junienmomo** who again showed me where a little improvement was needed, and at the same time stroked my ego here and there. Enjoy this Christmas chapter!

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen: A Gallery of Spinach and Beetroot**

It was that time of year where Lorelai's mood was rarely bad. She felt a constant tingle in her stomach, and even if something wasn't going as anticipated a brief look outside the window would always make sure she was feeling better than moments before. Seeing her own inn covered with a thin layer of powder snow was something Lorelai had wanted to see for over a decade. The image ranked up there with Rory at her college graduation, Lorelai at the altar and a balanced bank account. Lorelai had this little gallery of dreams in her mind, and was deeply happy to see more and more imagined pictures being replaced by real ones. Earlier this year she had needed to take mental trips through her gallery to remind her of her goals in life, give her a push, pull her up when she felt down. Now that the year was coming to an end, the trips had gotten more scarce, making them more precious.

Tonight especially Lorelai was glad to file the image of her snow-covered inn away in order to send herself to a state of bliss. She would be needing it. After not talking to her parents for weeks, she had taken Rory's and Luke's advice to heart and decided to go to her parents' annual two-weeks-too-early Christmas party. With a third cup of candy cane coffee in her stomach, and her cell phone pressed against her ear, she stood before the heavy wooden door in one of the most expensive streets in Hartford.

"Hon, please tell me you're already there. I didn't see your car in this mess here", Lorelai told her daughter.

"I'll be there in a few minutes. So much traffic! If you want you can wait in your car. But you can also be a big girl and ring the bell", Rory mocked her mother.

"And be Anita Ward? No thanks, my voice isn't that high. Speaking of which. Are you high to even suggest I go in there by myself? I'd rather sing 'I will always love you' on karaoke night at KC's. I'd rather celebrate Christmas without gifts. I'd rather never drink another drop of coffee in my entire life!"

"Whoa, I get it, no need for blasphemy. I'm on my way. Bye!", Rory said and hung up.

Lorelai went back to her car, but as she walked there, saw Rory's car pull up in the driveway. She quickly went back and opened the car door.

"I've never been so happy to see you, sweet child of mine. Besides on the day you were born of course. How is my favorite snow angel doing?", Lorelai asked as she hugged Rory.

"Tired. Hungry. Ready to go to bed", Rory yawned.

"Oh babe, just you wait until you have eaten something, and then we'll see, OK?", Lorelai said and walked back towards the door, her arm tightly wrapped around her daughter's shoulder.

"I guess..."

"How's your dad?", she asked.

"Better."

"And Gigi?"

"Getting bigger."

"Wow, look what three trips to Boston in a month have done to you! All you need to do now is stop shaving your face and wear a blue baseball hat with a flannel shirt, and people will start asking you for coffee refills. Ready?", Lorelai asked expectantly as they reached the door.

"I'm not the one who needs her diaper changed", Rory joked.

"Getting sassy, missy, and I gotta say I like it. Looks like soon you can start calling yourself Lorelai and disappoint your mother", Lorelai shot back, and pressed her index finger to the most frightening little button in the world, a button straight out of a James Bond villain control room.

Lorelai and Rory were greeted by Emily and Richard, made their rounds and met at the buffet twenty minutes later.

Rory spooned more stuffed mushrooms onto her plate, and Lorelai couldn't help but eat an apple tart as an appetizer.

"Honestly Lorelai, you couldn't wait to sit down before you eat an apple tart? Those are for dessert", Emily said, her voice filled with disapproval.

"Sorry Mom. You know I can't resist those apple tarts", Lorelai tried to appease her mother.

"When you're done eating, I'd like to talk to you in private", Emily said and disappeared in a cloud of Chanel No. 5.

"Someone's in trouble...", Rory sing-songed.

"Great. Nothing destroys a meal more than the certainty of a conversation with my mother afterwards", Lorelai said as she sat down.

Rory took a seat next to her, and started to eat the stuffed goose breast.

"Hey Ace", a voice pulled her out of her thoughts on truffles in poultry.

"Logan, what are you doing here?", Rory asked him.

"I was invited. Is this your mother?"

"Yes, Mom, this is Logan, he goes to Yale too, and he works with me on the paper", Rory introduced him.

"Nice to meet you, Logan", Lorelai said as she swallowed a forkful of potatoes au gratin.

"Same here, I heard so much about you", he said with a sincere smile.

"Really? Can't say the same", Lorelai remarked.

"We'll talk later, Logan", Rory said and shooed him away.

"So, what did you get from your dad?", Lorelai asked.

"Um, he said he didn't really have the time to go shopping much since Sherry left. So we postponed the Christmas gifts this year", Rory explained and took a sip from her soda.

"Just this year? Has he never heard of the internet?", Lorelai asked, shaking her head.

"Mom, don't be so hard on him, he's trying."

"Hon, I just think that he as an adult could do more for you than I could when you were little, and I was only a kid myself. You've been so great to him, and been there for him. I wish I could say the same about him", Lorelai said sadly.

"It's OK. I have you, I have my grandparents. And Luke, don't forget Luke who gave me monogrammed towels, and unicorns for Christmas for as long as I can remember. You should cut dad some slack", Rory begged.

"I am. I have been for years. Just don't let him use you. You need time to focus on school. And last I heard they had babysitters in Boston."

"It's just nice to get to know my sister, you know. I don't know if I had the chance if Sherry hadn't left."

"This is just proving my point", Lorelai said, adding with a pout, "Looks like my plate's empty. Time to talk to my mom."

"Have fun!", Rory said as Lorelai got up.

"Have fun with your little blondie bear Logan", Lorelai cooed.

Lorelai made the rounds to look for her mother. After a fruitless five minutes, she found her in the kitchen, yelling at the servers.

"Mom, I'm done. We can talk now", she said, took her mother by the shoulders, winked and smiled at the waiters, and led her out of the kitchen.

"Lorelai, I wasn't done in there", Emily hissed.

"Oh, you were. It's almost Christmas, time to be almost forgiving and almost nice to people."

Emily was silenced by that and went upstairs to the almost never used den, where she closed the door behind Lorelai and herself. After a few moments of uneasiness, Emily began to speak.

"Lorelai, let me please say that I'm very happy that you came today in spite of how I treated you", Emily said softly.

"Mom-", Lorelai started, but was interrupted.

"Please let me finish. I shouldn't have gone behind your back. That was uncalled for. I will never treat you this way again, and I ask for your forgiveness", Emily said and teared up.

"Mom, please", Lorelai said and hugged Emily, "I wouldn't have come today if I hadn't forgiven you already."

"Thanks, Lorelai", Emily said, touched, and slipped out of their embrace.

"I think we need rules."

"Rules?", Emily said with a wrinkled brow.

"Yes, we need to stop behaving like that. I'm a grown-up, Mom. I have an adult daughter, and my own business. I need my mother as my friend, not her constant parenting. You need to accept my choices without interfering. That is all I ask. You can disapprove of me, but you can't voice that disapproval all the time. It hurts, Mom", Lorelai explained.

"You're right. I'm sorry that I hurt you. Does this mean you only came for the apple tarts?", Emily asked.

"60 percent apple tarts, 40 percent Rory and Luke's constant nagging..."

"Fair enough. I'm glad you came", Emily nodded.

"Does this mean you'll finally cash that check?", Lorelai asked.

"If that is what you wish."

"It is, I don't want money standing between us anymore. This doesn't mean we can't have our lunches on Tuesdays. But maybe we'll wait until the Holidays are over. The Inn's booked, and I have so much to do. You don't happen to know a place that sells snow mats?"

"Let me ask Kitty Wilmington, she's downstairs. Shall we?", Emil asked and made her way to the door.

"Let's shall."

* * *

Two weeks later, Lorelai was at the Dragonfly Inn, sending Sookie home to her family, hoping she herself would be on the way to the Crapshack soon after. She walked into the dining room, and was stunned to see her mother there talking to Michel.

"... yes, up to 50 people, but not many more", she heard Michel say.

"That would be wonderful. We would have to make adjustments, but that would be fine. Lorelai, how nice to see you", Emily greeted her daughter.

"Mom, did I forget we had an appointment?"

"Your father and I talked, and we decided to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary with a vow renewal ceremony. The big halls in Hartford are booked months and months in advance, so we thought we could celebrate here in your inn. Michel just confirmed that it would be sufficient for a small gathering, and we could cross out a few names. What do you say, are you free in four weeks?"

Lorelai didn't know what to say. Helping out at a big wedding anniversary party would have been a lot, hosting it for her mother would definitely be exhausting.

"Here? You want to celebrate it here? Is that even your style?", she asked carefully.

"Don't be modest, Lorelai, this place has a certain charm. I know Sookie's food has always been excellent, and since you'll be in the wedding, you wouldn't have to do a lot on the actual day."

"Wow, Mom. You know this place isn't big enough for 200 people, right?"

"I'm aware of that, Lorelai. Something small and intimate would be lovely", Emily explained.

"OK, if this is something you'd like to do, I think it might work, just let me check the computer if there are other events planned on that weekend. If it's all clear, I guess we can make it work. If that's what you want."

"I'll wait", Emily said and looked around the en suite library.

Lorelai took a few calming breaths on the way to the reception area, and hoped the inn would be booked. Meeting her mother for a weekly lunch was one thing, working for her was a whole different story. Memories of mushroom soup, and lobster potpie flooded her memory. She checked the calendar and saw that nothing was even pencilled in. With a sigh, she went back to the dining room, put on a smile, and found her mother in front of the fireplace.

"We're free, Mom. So I guess we should start planning. Food, table cloths, candles, flowers", Lorelai started babbling.

"What a lovely picture. Wonderful frame, too", Emily said and motioned to the mantlepiece.

"Yeah, it's antique."

"Very nice. Who's the couple?", Emily wanted to know.

"It's Luke's parents. They celebrated their wedding here. He found the photo, and gave it to me", Lorelai told her proudly.

"Where did you find that gorgeous picture frame?"

"Luke did actually. He has an eye for those things apparently."

"Tell me Lorelai", Emily asked, "Are the two of you really just friends?"

"Yes, we are. We spend a lot of time together. In fact, he's coming over to our house to bake sugar cookies with us tonight. Something to leave for Santa", Lorelai grinned.

"Or maybe for you?", Emily teased.

"Maybe", Lorelai admitted.

"There's barely a story you tell where he's not in it."

"Luke is great, I'm glad we improved our friendship. We got a lot closer within the last six months."

"And you're only friends?"

"For now we are. I don't wanna rush into relationships anymore. Who knows what might happen. I enjoy his company, and he's always been there for me. Sometimes I wonder if something could develop from here, sometimes I think not because we're so different. Other times I think he's the only man who ever got me."

"Well, I better get going now before there's too much snow on the roads. And thank you for your honesty, Lorelai. Merry Christmas!", Emily said and quickly hugged her daughter.

* * *

Soon after Lorelai drove home, and smiled as she saw Luke's truck parked behind Rory's car. She entered the Crapshack, took in the sweet smell, and heard Christmas music. Rory and Luke were in the kitchen, waiting for the first batch of sugar cookies to be done.

"Hey guys, I see you've been busy. It smells amazing in here", Lorelai said as she entered the kitchen.

"This is the best Christmas ever", Rory smiled, "So much better than the cookies from Weston's. Because here one can snack on the raw dough!"

Lorelai took a look around. All the dough apparently was already cut and put on cookie sheets. Before the pout was visible, Luke opened the fridge, and took out a saucer with a little raw cookie dough on it.

"Here, Rory insisted we save you some", Luke said with a gentle smile.

"This is why you are my favorite daughter. That and because we have the same shoe size", Lorelai said and grabbed the saucer.

She put the dough in her mouth, and went to the cabinet to get the mixer for the frosting.

"Wow, this is the first year where we make the entire cookie ourselves. Oh no!", Lorelai said.

"What's the matter?", Rory asked.

"I forgot to buy green and red food coloring at Doose's. Great, this day can't get any worse. First my mother tells me they'll have their vow renewal at the inn, my inn, next month, and now I have to go out again. Would you go, please Rory? Your legs are way younger than mine!", Lorelai begged.

"A vow renewal? That's so cool!", Rory said excitedly.

"Relax! I brought organic coloring paste just in case", Luke remarked at the same time.

"Organic food coloring? How is that even possible?", Lorelai asked incredulously.

"They make it from vegetables. The red one's made of beetroot, the green one of spinach. They only use the color, there's none of the flavor in the paste. It's healthy. So stop making a face", Luke ordered.

"OK, we'll give it a try. But only because I'm too exhausted. The idea of my parents' vow renewal at the Dragonfly feels like I'm wearing a chainmail bodysuit. And why are you so happy about the stupid vow renewal anyway?", she asked Rory.

"Aren't you happy that they're back together? They want to celebrate that."

"Do you want me to pull a Sylvia Plath? It means four weeks of planning, not to mention that I'll be in the wedding. What are you grinning about, Luke?"

"Nothing, it's just the same face you make when I deny you a seventh cup of coffee. Didn't know there were other things that put you in the same mood."

"Shut up, or you'll be my escort!", she shot back.

It silenced Luke, and he took the first tray of cookies out of the oven. Lorelai started on the frosting, and eyed the coloring paste suspiciously. She opened the little bottle, smelled it, closed the lid and shook it. An hour later the cookies were decorated, the beaters were licked, and the Gilmore girls plus Luke went with bowls of popcorn and cranberries into the living room to make garlands while watching TV.

"What are we watching?", Luke wanted to know.

He sat on the left side of the couch, next to him were Lorelai and Rory with needles and yarn in their hands, ready to start with their garlands.

"Christmas time is the time for fairytales", Rory said.

"And as you already know, we're not really Disney girls, so we don't watch _Cinderella_. We watch _Cinderfella_", Lorelai explained.

"What the hell is _Cinderfella_?", Luke asked with knitted brows.

"It's a Jerry Lewis classic", Rory replied.

"Imagine a male Cinderella with two mean step-brothers, and a princess who falls in love with him. After that, we want a dose of reality-", Lorelai said.

"... which means _While you were sleeping_ with Sandra Bullock-", Rory said.

"... followed by episode 170 of _Seinfeld_-", Lorelai said before Luke interrupted her.

"_Seinfeld_?", Luke wondered.

"It's a show about nothing", Rory informed him.

"... where a guy has to be spongeworthy, and pretty girls are rejected because Jerry gets too quickly in their speed dial", Lorelai told him.

"I'm not stupid, I know what _Seinfeld_ is!", Luke defended himself, "It just wasn't obvious why you watch _Seinfeld_ on Christmas."

"Do you want to enlighten him, hon?", Lorelai asked Rory.

"I'll let you do the honors."

"This isn't a Christmas episode. It's the episode where Kramer has a strong box, and Jerry buys the cuff links Jerry Lewis wore in _Cinderfella_."

"You can't be serious!", Luke remarked.

"Does it look as if we'd mock that perfectly sane collection of TV for Christmas Eve?", Lorelai challenged him.

"It's the perfect occasion to watch something that references something else you watch", Rory stated.

Luke didn't put up a fight, he just faced the TV.

Sometimes, life was crazy. Just like that, Lorelai filed another picture away in her gallery. A picture she didn't know was gonna end up there, there was no empty picture frame for it, it just happened to be a really nice snapshot of her, Rory on her right, Luke on her left. Watching _Cinderfella_. Lorelai wasn't exactly sure what kind of picture frame she'd need for that photograph, but she knew that Luke probably had a few suggestions.

* * *

**I hope you liked the chapter. Be nice and leave a review on your way out. **


	14. Chapter Fourteen: Mastering the Labyrint

**AN:** Hi, dear readers! I want to thank all of you who reviewed, followed and faved this story. I'm flattered. Another big thank you as always to my brilliant beta Junienmomo, who yet again helped me a lot. After David Bowie had died, I felt the need to mention him in this chapter. Yes, the things Lorelai says are maybe a tiny bit autobiographical. With the fanfic writers being in a bit of a revival-induced hibernation, I hope we'll get to read some good stuff before we'll get new ASP-written canon. Read, enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen: Mastering the Labyrinth, Part I**

Lorelai hurried up the stairs. Her heels were clicking faster than she thought she actually walked. She knew she was late, and she knew he hated that. She knocked on the frosted glass door, and didn't have to wait long before Luke opened it.

"I'm so sorry, Luke, I know I'm late. But if you knew the day I had, you'd be very forgiving. My mother came to the inn for the final flower and tablecloth meeting. Thank God for Sookie. She handled the food and the seating chart with her. So when I called Grayson's Emily changed her mind, so I had to hang up, we went back to discussing the colors she wants, Rory and I convinced her Grayson's was an awesome florist, that we didn't need to use her Hartford florist, and that white orchids went with everything anyway. After that I assured her we didn't need to paint the dining room. This woman is crazy, Luke. I'm talking Angelina Jolie in _Girl, Interrupted _meets Big Edie in _Grey Gardens_", Lorelai rambled.

This entire time, she stood in front of Luke in the hallway, his angry face never disappearing once. Not even her exaggerations softened his furrowed brow. He stood there as if he was waiting for the secret password before he let her enter.

"What's the matter?", Lorelai asked carefully.

"Nothing, come on in", he said tight-lipped.

"Hmm, something smells real good in here. I thought we'd order from Al's?", she asked as she finally entered the apartment.

"Didn't feel like it. I made lasagna. You like lasagna, right?", Luke wanted to know, and went to the oven.

"Love. Luke, you didn't have to cook tonight. You cook all day every day. You deserve a break every now and then. And not cooking is probably the closest thing to a weekend at the spa in your world", Lorelai remarked when she sat down at the table, which was already set.

"I actually took the afternoon off, so I had to cook something tonight, or I would have forgotten how to do it at all", he said gruffly.

Lorelai didn't know he'd be so angry for her being late. It was only ten minutes, she had hurried and came straight from work. So she was silent, decided not to keep on blabbing, and give him space. If only her mouth had been in on that plan. As soon as the fork hit her tongue, her reflex was to moan because the lasagna was so damn good.

"Oh God, Luke. This is so good", she moaned.

"Eat your salad, too", he ordered as he chewed.

"I'll have it afterwards. The way my mother talked to me today, I feel very Vivian Ward. And she had a leaf of salad with her sorbet afterwards, you know", Lorelai tried to joke, but Luke ignored her.

Could he be really this mad at her for being late? Maybe he was very hungry. Lorelai was grumpy when she was hungry, so she thought it best if she let him eat in peace.

An hour later, she was done with the dishes while Luke started the video. They had eaten mostly in silence and afterwards Lorelai had insisted on doing the dishes, partly to appease him, partly because it was the one thing she liked to do.

"Where's Rory tonight?", he asked as he sat down on the couch and put his feet up on the coffee table.

"Out on a date."

"Really? So the Dean thing is over?", he asked curiously.

"Yeah, she said she wanted to take it slow, look around a bit. I guess that's what college is for. I wouldn't know, I had a four year old daughter when I was her age. So dating wasn't particularly high on my to-do list. What are we watching?"

"_Labyrinth_", he said blandly.

"_Labyrinth_, as in David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly dancing together at a Venetian masked ball?", Lorelai asked excitedly, almost jumping up and down on the couch.

Luke nodded.

"Oh Luke! You do know that you'll probably gonna hate the movie from beginning to end? I was so jealous of Jennifer Connelly when this movied first came out. She got to dance with David Bowie! This was the first time I left Rory alone after moving out of my parents' house. I was 18 and Mia insisted I went out on a date. First the lasagna, and now _Labyrinth_? Even though you could have picked Rocky, or Rambo, or whatever guy movie makes you happy?", she squealed.

Luke smiled a little to see her this happy.

"Has anyone ever told you you were like a lap dog on uppers sometimes?", Luke deadpanned.

"Believe me, my friend, if I weren't this happy about our little movie night, you'd go straight to the Bog of Eternal Stench for that comment. And FYI, I once was told I was like a sexy kitten", she shot back.

Luke felt his ears burn up, and he faced the TV.

An hour into the movie, she noticed how he kept slightly shaking his head. He rolled his eyes, and Lorelai knew he'd soon burst. When he exhaled audibly, yet again, she knew he'd start a rant any second. He had mocked David Bowie's lipstick, eye shadow, the bulge in his tights, his hair, and accent. She wondered what might come next.

"That's it! That is just sick! How old was he in that movie? Like forty? That's a year younger than me. And that girl is like thirteen, fourteen? That's illegal, Lorelai! This is just gross!", he almost yelled.

"Luke, he's the goblin king. He's way older than that. Their day has 26 hours. Besides, we haven't even gotten to the part where he tells her he loves her!"

"Are you saying that this is OK for you? Imagine Rory at age fourteen and some sick forty year old who stuffed a pair of socks in his boxers and wants to love her!"

"Honey, it's a movie, it's fantasy. Besides, I liked your rants way better with your white-haired friend up there on your balcony when you burst out laughing from time to time!"

"Very funny! So this is all OK for you? An old guy going for a teenager?"

"The movie's so much more! What is with you tonight? You can't be this angry because I showed up late!"

"I know you long enough to tell you the time we'd meet minus twenty minutes", he said more calmly.

"Then what is it?", Lorelai asked, losing her patience.

"It's nothing!", he shrugged.

"Come on, Luke? Do you need a phone in your hand? Should I face the wall so that you can tell me what's going on?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that when we talked on the phone over the summer, you were open and told me stuff. Stuff I never thought we'd ever talk about. But we did. So, what does it take for you to open up now? I wasn't kidding about the turning away part", Lorelai offered and paused the movie.

Luke closed his eyes for a moment, and faced her.

"I got my divorce papers today. And, I, uh, guess that it's official. I'm a divorced loser. While Nicole probably will be remarried in less than a year", he said sadly.

Wordlessly, Lorelai hugged her best friend. "That sucks."

"Yeah. I don't even know where to go from here."

"Preferably to the bathroom to brush your teeth before you go to bed", she joked.

"But what does it say about me? I mean I guess I have to go on dates sooner or later. Won't that scare women off?"

"What? No! It means you're able to commit to a relationship, but it didn't work out with this one person. At least you did get married."

"At least you had a kid."

"Nothing like a kid to scare off a potential boyfriend..."

"But Rory's an angel."

"It's not so much her personality, but her mere existence that scared 'em off."

"Really?"

"Well, yeah. There are two kinds of guys out there. The ones who think you're easy because you got knocked up at 16, and the ones who leave skidmarks because they're driving away so fast."

"Where would I fit in?", he asked her directly.

Lorelai thought for a moment.

"Maybe there's three kinds of guys", she smiled benignly.

Luke chuckled.

"That's better", nodded Lorelai, adding, "Don't you think it was for the better to get the divorce?"

"Of course it was for the better. I shouldn't have gotten married in the first place. I don't know why I ever agreed to postpone the divorce", he admitted soberly.

"I think I know the answer. Instead of getting closure and trying something new, you went back to the comfortable. You're not the first person to do that. It's what Rory did with Dean. She totally idealized their time together. But I recall that time. They started having problems almost immediately after getting back together. Then Jess showed up and Dean distrusted her. But it took them almost a year to break up. So I honestly don't know which particular time slot she was so fond of", Lorelai explained.

"But Rory at least had a time to look back on that way. I don't know what time I would have recalled with Nicole. There was no time I particularly liked. At least not one that was worth getting back together for."

"But you told me once that you felt comfortable with her and had a feeling in your gut", she objected.

"Well, I guess I wasn't honest with you then", he declared with raised eyebrows.

"Why?", Lorelai almost whispered, unable to tear her eyes away from his, her heart racing.

"Lorelai, there has only been one woman besides Rachel where I felt comfortable. And I couldn't admit it then that it's you. But I can now", Luke told her and smiled.

"That's nice", Lorelai said shyly.

"Yeah, it is. How about you? Are you comfortable around me?", he asked gently.

"If I was any more comfortable around you, I'd be clipping my toenails right now", she joked.

Both smiled, and started laughing.

"So, you're not a fan of rekindling a relationship?", Luke asked and took a swig of his beer.

"Can't say that I am. It has just never worked for me. The problems are still there, the reason to break up still valid. Unless you're my parents, but they were married for almost 40 years, so I guess more things are forgivable."

"How are things coming along for the big party next week?", Luke wanted to know.

"The big things are all done, so unless Sookie screws up, everything should be fine. But I can't wait for it to be over. Maybe we should celebrate. The party's on Friday, but we could do a special movie night in Saturday", she suggested.

"Special? What do you have in mind?", he asked her.

"Maybe we could watch _Casablanca_ again? Or finish _Hardbodies_? Ooh, I got it, we'll watch _Cool Hand Luke_! And we'll order Chinese!", Lorelai said excitedly.

"How is that different from all the other movie nights you're having?", he asked with raised eyebrows, delighted by her spirit.

"I'll spit the peanuts from the Kung Pao chicken into a napkin this time, and not back into the container?"

* * *

The day has finally come. Almost four weeks of planning, late night phone calls to decide which goes better with off-white table cloths, grilled green asparagus with lemon butter or turbot saltimbocca, and consultations on hair and the dresses lay behind Lorelai and the other Gilmore girls. With blissful exhaustion she stood next to her parents and smiled at Rory as Emily and Richard renewed their vows in the Dragonfly Inn library. Michel actually showed her why she rehired him, and made sure everything was done perfectly to please her mother. As the old newlyweds and the rest of the wedding party were being photographed, more tables were brought into the library and quickly set to match the other ones in the dining and living rooms.

Just as Lorelai followed Rory back into reception area, she stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Christopher standing by the fireplace with his mother.

"Did you know your dad's here?", Lorelai whispered into Rory's ear.

"No, where?", she asked and Lorelai pointed a finger in his general direction.

"What is Francine doing here? Straub died what, like six weeks ago?", Lorelai asked.

"Yeah, around that time. It's so strange to celebrate my grandfather today, when I haven't really known my other grandfather at all", Rory said sadly.

"I know sweets, but look at how much my dad loves you and how well you two get along. I think it makes up for a lot, don't you?", she asked and gently put both of her hands on Rory's shoulders.

"I guess. It's almost like that with Luke making up for dad."

"Maybe you should tell Luke that some time. He's pretty down from the divorce."

"You're right. Shall we go say hi to dad?", Rory asked her mother.

Lorelai nodded and they walked over to the living room.

"Lor, great party, great hotel!", Christopher said and hugged her.

Rory eyed him suspiciously. Again, he had picked her mother over her. Lorelai quickly slipped out of his embrace to give Francine her condolences while Rory greeted her father.

"Yeah, I talked to mom to convince her to come here today. I even offered to accompany her", he smiled broadly.

"You don't say!", Lorelai said in mock-astonishment.

"Where's the bar?", Christopher asked.

"It's right in there, off the dining room. Well, I need to find my mother for a second, excuse me, please", she said and went to the restrooms where she last saw Emily refresh her make-up.

With a sigh she closed the door behind her.

"Hey, mom. Did you invite Christopher?", she straight our asked Emily.

"Not directly. I invited Francine, out of respect, and thought she wouldn't come. But it would have been rude not to invite her. She called me on Tuesday to ask if it was too late to RSVP. Since Tweenie Halpern cancelled last minute, I told Francine there were two free spots. Then she asked if you or Rory were bringing anyone, and I said neither of you were in a relationship at the moment, but that I had offered to let you bring Lane and Luke. Why, is Christopher here? With Francine?", Emily asked with raised eyebrows.

Lorelai nodded. "You should have seen Rory's face. He hugged me like he didn't come here sober, and asked me where the bar was. I knew losing his father would be hard on him, but why would be come here if he didn't feel up for it?"

"Maybe Francine pushed him", Emily speculated.

"I don't think so, mom. I think it was the other way round..."

"Let me get done here, then I'll be right out to see for myself", she said.

* * *

As if having Christopher follow her all night hasn't been enough, Lorelai was again surprised, when Jason showed up after their seven course dinner. She grabbed him by the sleeve of his jacket and dragged him to the reception desk.

"Jason, what are you doing here?", she asked him visibly annoyed.

"My parents are invited and my mother told me about it. So I thought I'd come here to ask if you were really sure you don't want us to be together again. I've missed you, Lorelai. I've been thinking about you, and I couldn't forgive myself if I didn't try this", Jason told her hopefully.

"I really don't think so. We broke up almost six months ago. What makes you think I'd say yes to that?", she asked him.

"My mother knew from Emily you were still not dating anyone. And I've been staring at a dead plant that you gave me, and I don't know. I just miss you", he said softly.

"Jason, this is never gonna work. Just because I'm single this time doesn't mean I'm not over you. You need to get over me. This isn't healthy", Lorelai replied honestly.

He looked at her, then his eyes drifted to his shoes.

"I'm sorry", he then said looking up, adding, "One dance? Just one dance, and then I'll leave. Promise."

Lorelai thought for a second. "OK, one dance."

She took his hand, and they began to dance slowly while keeping their distance as much as possible.

Lorelai cleared her throat. "So, um, how are things?"

"Good. You were right. It took a while, but business is picking up actually."

"That's nice. How is Cyrus doing? Is he able to go 'a little to the right'?", she smiled.

"We're working on it. I even got him to eat ham the other day. It's not bacon yet, but we're getting there."

Lorelai nodded and smiled. They danced in silence, and when the song was over, she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek.

"Bye, Jason. It was good seeing you", she said.

"You too. The inn looks very nice", Jason told her.

"What the hell is going on, here?", Christopher suddenly asked.

"Chris, lower your voice!"

"Nothing", Jason said at the same time.

"Didn't look like nothing! Lor, what are you doing with him? I thought you were broken up!"

"We just danced, Christopher. Something you wouldn't be able to with that many drinks you had!"

"This is unbelievable! I've been wanting you since we were fourteen, and when you pick someone from our class it's _him_?", Christopher yelled.

"Hey!", Jason said.

"Please switch to coffee, Christopher. I just danced with Jason to say goodbye. Now please be quiet", she begged him.

"When will you finally give me a chance, Lor?"

"I've given you chance after chance, for 20 years. I don't want to be with you. Accept that!"

The volume of the discussion has made most guests walk to the reception area, among them Rory.

"Dad!", she said, "It's always the same. You come for mom, never for me. All I'm good enough for is when your babysitter has cancelled. I've had enough. She told you she didn't want you, now stop harassing her and stop ruining the party!"

With that Rory ran out. The last line Lorelai heard was "I should have dunked your head into the toilet every single day, asshole" by Christopher, before she went after her daughter.

She caught up with her on the parking lot.

"Oh hon, come here", Lorelai said as she tightly hugged her daughter and felt her sob.

"Why can't he love me like a father loves his daughter? Why is he only interested in you?", Rory said, crying.

"I don't know, sweets. It's his loss. He doesn't even know what he's been missing. You're such a great kid. You don't deserve this", she assured her and stroked her daughter's hair.

"I can't believe he's done that. Did he even think about grandma and grandpa?"

"I don't think he was thinking at all."

"I wanna go home, crawl into my bed, and just sleep", Rory said, her sobbing slowly ebbing away.

"Come on, I'll drive", Lorelai suggested.

* * *

It took Rory almost an hour to fall asleep, and Lorelai had stayed by her side. Then she went to her jeep to drive back to the inn. On the way there, she drove by K.C.'s. She parked her car, because she decided she needed a drink. She sat on a bar stool.

"Hey Frank, I'll take a beer and a shot of tequila", she told the bartender.

What a night it had been. She could not have anticipated both Christopher and Jason showing up, or the public fight it triggered. She downed the tequila and took a big gulp of beer.

"Tough night?", the burly bartender asked.

"Tough, brutal, and very _Dynasty_."

"Some nights just are. That's a third of our income", he said and walked to the other end of the bar.

"Hey Lorelai", a voice behind her said.

She turned around. "Hi Ed. How's it going?"

"Good. I'm off. Don't wanna let Carol wait. Night!"

A short moment later, Luke sat next to her.

"Hi, party over already?", he asked gruffly.

"For me it is. I'd say someone just watched a lot of daytime television and then decided the material would be wasted if it wasn't used in real life."

"Huh?"

"The party's still in full swing, I assume. Christopher showed up. Then Jason showed up. Then Chris saw me dance with Jason, thought we were back together, made a scene, implied I had to be with him, and broke Rory's heart, again."

"What?", Luke asked, baffled.

Lorelai replayed the evening for him over another shot of tequila.

"So, I took her home, she cried some more, but finally fell asleep."

"Bastard."

"Yup, but what about you? You don't look too happy. Did Ed beat you at pool?", she asked him.

"No, that's not it. But I feel very stupid today."

"Did you do the chicken dance on your lunch break and Kirk caught you?"

"No, I went to the home improvement store to get a new doorknob, and I met someone", he told her.

"Who?"

"Doesn't matter. Anyway, we talked a little, I gave her advice about duct tape, and she seemed nice."

"OK? Still doesn't explain your pout. Continue", she asked him.

"Then she was right behind me on the cash register, so I walked her to her car, and she asked me if I was busy tomorrow. I told her I was having a movie night with my best friend, and she suggested next Saturday. When I told her that I would probably be having another movie night with my best friend, she asked me if my best friend just lost his wife, because there was no other reason to be spending time with a guy on the prime date night of the week. So I told her my best friend's a woman, and she gave me that look, that knowing look. I know the look. I've seen that look. On Patty, on Babette, on Sookie, even on Taylor at times. So I quickly explained that we're just friends. And then, do you know what she said then?", Luke ranted.

"No", Lorelai said sheepishly.

Rarely had Lorelai seen Luke rant because of something a stranger had said to him. He usually ranted about Taylor, Kirk, the town in general, and of course about the quality and quantity of Lorelai's food intake. Why was it so important what the woman had said to him?

"She told me that I'm an idiot, got into her car and drove off", he said and paused for dramatic effect.

"Hey, at least I'm not the only one who made someone leave skidmarks just to get away from me that fast. I had a child, what's your excuse?", Lorelai tried to joke. She knew he wouldn't appreciate it this time.

"She was right though. I am an idiot."

"It took her seconds to see what took me years to figure out", she smiled.

"Lorelai...", he groaned.

"What, Luke? Why does it bother you so much? Were you so infatuated with that woman that it broke your heart to see her leave so quickly?", she challenged him.

"What? No, of course not. It was just something about the way she said it. Like I'm some dumb, ignorant douchebag", Luke explained.

Lorelai looked at him, but couldn't quite figure out what to say.

"You know what?", Luke asked her.

"What?"

Luke stood up, fished a ten dollar bill from his jeans pocket and put it on the counter.

"I'm going home", Luke declared.

He was 41 years old, divorced, and living in a crazy town. This town was so crazy that Kirk actually had been in a relationship longer than Luke's marriage lasted. If Kirk could make it work, why couldn't Luke? Kirk had just gone for the girl he had liked. Granted, he went a little overboard with the preparations, but he actually did it. Kirk had been surprised that Lulu never left during their first date, he had given her plently of opportunities. Luke sympathized with that fear. Weren't all people scared that something might drive others away, give them reason to just leave? But no matter what he had done, or how bad a fight might have been, Lorelai had always been there. He had no idea why he couldn't tell her that night what he really wanted to say. They were best friends, shouldn't they be able to say what they had on their minds? Luke felt like there was a threshold he couldn't cross that night at K.C.'s.

Lorelai watched him go, and sighed. She knew what it felt like when someone else judged one's choices. She pondered what he had told her about the mystery woman from the home improvement store. Was she implying that he was in denial about his relationship to Lorelai? Was _Lorelai_ in denial about their relationship? She knew that to an outsider it would seem odd to have a standing appointment between a man and a woman, who were not romantically involved, to spend an evening together. The past day had brought so much trouble and excitement, that Lorelai's body was slowly but steadily shutting down. She yawaned loudly, paid for her drinks, and went home.

She was surprised to find Rory in the kitchen, helping herself to a bottle of water from the fridge.

"Hey sweets, you OK?", she asked, and gently patted her daughter's back.

"Yeah, just hydrating. Were you out?", Rory asked sleepily.

"I was driving back to the inn, but made a stop at K.C.'s for a nightcap. Hey, you're friends with Marty, right?", Lorelai asked as she sat down.

"Yeah, why?", Rory replied and sat next to her mother.

"It's just something I was wondering. You guys have movie nights, right?"

"Well, there used to be movie nights. He's made himself scarce lately", said Rory.

"Did you spend a lot of time together?"

"Not too regularly. There were times when we did a lot together, but other times when we were busy with school stuff. What's with the late night interrogation?", she wanted to know.

"I ran into Luke at the bar, and he seemed upset about someone's assumption about our friendship. I have no idea why he would get so mad", Lorelai said, slightly shaking her head.

"Maybe it wasn't the assumption, but the fact that he's not too happy with the friendship itself?", Rory speculated.

"But I've been trying so hard to be a good friend for him. I know it's a little unbalanced with what he did for me and for us, but I've been trying to catch up. I threw him his first and probably last surprise birthday party, I painted his bedroom nook. And all the things he shared with me over the summer. Intimate things. Doesn't that mean our friendship has evolved?"

"I think it means exactly that. It has evolved into something new. Something closer to a relationship, I would assume", Rory said, got up from her chair and walked into her room.

"What? Where are you going? You can't leave me with a cliffhanger!", Lorelai begged.

"Can't lay it all out for you. You'll figure it out, Einstein", came the voice from the other room.

When Lorelai was upstairs doing her bathroom routine, she thought about the things Rory had said. She was right, her and Luke's friendship had evolved. Lorelai was sure she had started feeling more for him since they had started talking on the phone during summer. But he was a married man. And now his divorce was still so fresh. On the other hand he had assured a week ago that he hadn't really been in love with Nicole. What did they say on _Sex and the City_ about the time one needed to get over a relationship? Half the duration of the relationship? In Luke's case that would mean at least six months. As she walked into her bedroom, Lorelai decided that this rule certainly only applied to women. She also decided that tomorrow night would indeed have to be special.

* * *

**Sorry for the kinda cliffie. I hope I'll be able to publish the last chapter within the next three weeks or so. Please let me know what you thought of the penultimate chapter. Reviewers are my favorite readers! **


	15. Chapter Fifteen: Mastering the Labyrinth

**AN:** So, here it is: the final chapter of my very first multi-chap. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. Thanks so much to all the readers who stuck with me, who reviewed, faved and followed me or this story over the last ten months. The biggest Dankeschön goes to my beta _Junienmomo_ who always made sure there weren't too many mistakes in it. I have a few more ideas for multi-chaps, but there are a lot of them during the same time, so I don't know yet what I'll do next. Now read and enjoy!

* * *

Chapter Fifteen: Mastering the Labyrinth, Part II

During the preparations for the movie night, Lorelai had been very nervous. Her heart was racing, she had sweaty palms, and she caught herself glimpsing at the clock too many times to count. Part of the nervousness was because of doubt. Would Luke even show up? Their talk the night before left her somewhat dumbfounded. Luke had talked in riddles, and she couldn't quite figure out if he changed his mind about their movie nights in general, or if he even wanted to tell her that their evolved relationship made it impossible for him to find a new girlfriend. The rest of her nervousness was because she never had planned an evening like that before. She was always the one to be conquered, and she had enjoyed being wooed by a man. Wooing a man was so much more difficult. Wooing a man like Luke was even more difficult because he wasn't someone who would appreciate a seven-course meal - not that she could make it - or flowers, which was an odd present for a man anyway and their annual discussions on Thanksgiving about flowers and vases certainly indicated that those were off-limits.

Right now, her nervousness was all blown away. It was replaced by a feeling of comfort the minute Luke showed up at her doorstep, a sixpack of beer in one hand and a Luke's take-out bag, filled with the little delicious things she so much loved, in the other. The familiarity of his stubbly face and his intoxicating scent almost made her heart jump out of her ribcage. After she had eaten most of the bag's content, she had found a more comfortable position on the not so comfortable couch: Her back against the armrest, her legs stretched out on the couch, with her toes barely making contact with Luke's thigh. His feet were propped up on the coffee table and he was nursing his second beer. From time to time he looked over to Lorelai, smiled and his head turned back towards the TV, where _Some Kind of Wonderful_ had been running for over an hour.

Lorelai had started watching the movie a few weeks back, but had been interrupted by Luke and they had watched _Bull Durham_ instead. Though thoroughly enjoying their movie nights, Lorelai also saw them as an opportunity to educate pop culture-illiterate Luke. But she didn't just want to finish the movie from a few weeks ago, tonight she was on a mission: making her intentions clear and hoping for reciprocation.

This was also the first of their movie nights where the rules weren't broken. No one had talked, the movie hadn't been paused, and since she had told Rory and Sookie about her plan, no phone call was accepted, simply because of a lack thereof. And so they sat and watched the movie, Lorelai anticipating the ending so that she, that they finally could start. The ticking clock was no longer scaring her, she was amped up.

After Hardy had been brought to tears by Duncan, and Keith and Watts were walking down that street, Lorelai changed her position and crossed her legs Indian style, facing Luke, and watching him expectantly.

He cleared his throat and gulped down the rest of his beer.

"What?", he asked her when he noticed her staring at him.

"Nothing, just wondering how you liked the movie", Lorelai said nonchalantly.

"Not bad for a chick flick", Luke said as he stretched his tired limbs. "I should go."

"What? Why? It's not even 9. Maybe you wanna talk about the movie a little more? I don't know which part is your favorite. It's hard to tell when you're not ranting during the scenes you find shitty", she smiled.

"Um, OK. Why don't you start, and then I'll say what I have to say about the scene", he suggested.

"OK. I liked the scene at the Hollywood Bowl, when Watts is watching them. It always makes me sad."

"Yeah. But why does she do this to herself? She could have waited in the car", Luke remarked.

"Do you remember a few months ago when you came over to convince me to paint your bedroom and we watched _Bull Durham_?", she asked him.

Luke nodded and looked at her.

"This was the movie I was watching that night, and then when you stayed I wanted to watch a guy movie with you. And all you did was complain about the guy getting the girl although he wrote her that very, um, explicit note? You said that that wasn't the way to get the girl in the end?"

He again nodded.

"What do you think about this approach?"

Luke thought for a moment. "Well, the guy took all his college money to impress a girl for one night. That doesn't seem very bright. Though I give him credit for not wanting to get her in bed with a plump line like that baseball guy."

"That's not what I meant. Have we been watching the same movie?"

"What do you mean?", he asked with a furrowed brow.

"I mean that this girl is head over heels in love with her best friend, and he doesn't see it. He thinks he needs to be with this superficial, popular girl, so he thinks he needs to change for someone else when he's perfect for Watts. Does that make any sense? Anyway, she's so much in love with him that she wants to prove to herself that she doesn't have to be, and volunteers as the driver, while all the time she wants to be with him. Not even kissing him can make him see her feelings for him. Do you think that is the better way to get the girl, or the boy in the case of this movie?"

"I think it's better to be friends first, because that way you get to know the real person, and not some façade that is later replaced by the real things you may not like. Why are you asking all those questions?", he asked her.

Lorelai took a deep breath. "It all started when my grandmother died. Suddenly I had all those things to do, and I didn't have anybody to share my responsibilities with. Do you remember Rory's valedictory speech?"

"Yeah", he nodded.

"She compared my parents to twin pillars, and somehow when my grandmother died I couldn't get that symbolism out of my head. I felt like I needed another pillar to get through the death, the family crisis, my financial situation, the opening of the Dragonfly, everything felt too much. But you were there, and you helped me so much. Offering that money alone meant so much to me. And that was when everything clicked. I recalled thinking about the twin pillars when Rory and I were in Europe."

"Because of all the columns?"

"No, it wasn't while I was standing in front of St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome. It was when we were on our way from Germany to France. I wanted to go straight from Berlin to Paris, but then Rory had this speech prepared about how stupid it would be to just visit each country's capital, where most sites would be packed with more tourists. You know Rory, she wouldn't be Rory if she hadn't done any research on the topic..."

Lorelai smiled. Luke couldn't take his eyes from her lips.

"So, anyway, she had heard of this place on the Rhine and she convinced me to make a little detour. It's called 'Lorelei Rock'. It got its name because of a mythological creature called Lorelei who would sing on her rock and all the seamen would be enticed by her beauty and voice, and their ships would sink because she distracted them. Sounds bad, I know. But here comes the part I've been thinking about. Rory and I were standing there, looking up this giant rock, it was at least 400 ft high. And almost a year later it all made sense to me. I didn't need another pillar, because I had this rock in my life. You're my rock, Luke. Nothing bad can happen to me, because I can always count on you. And I don't know if I can sit back and watch you going for another Amanda Jones, because it was too damn painful to see you struggle. Nicole wanted you to change, but you're perfect as you are, Luke. During the last months you became so much more than a friend. But our kiss a hundred years ago didn't make you see it, and I had to hide the freaking mistle toe upstairs or I would have been reminded of that day every year at Christmas."

Luke quickly closed the distance between them, tucked a curl behind her ear, and whispered, "You remember the kiss?"

Suddenly her heart rate went up again. Feeling him so close to her, the deep blue oceans of his eyes piercing hers, his touch sending shivers down her spine. She couldn't help but smile at the sight of his handsome face, the hopeful look in his eyes.

"Of course I do. It made me weak in the knees", she admitted, her voice thick with emotion.

He softly kissed her, and elicited a soft moan from her. His lips were soft against hers, and she brought her hands to the nape of his neck.

"Lorelai", he whispered, "Of course I saw it when we kissed. I don't know why I needed a stranger to remind me of the unique relationship we have. I have wanted to kiss you again so many times. I guess I just lost the courage over the years. I'm sorry I don't have diamond earrings to give to you now."

Lorelai chuckled. "They don't have diamonds, but I love the earrings you gave to me."

This time Lorelai kissed him. Her tongue begged for entrance to his mouth as she let it glide over the shape of his lips. They separated when the need for oxygen was more important than the temptation to deepen the kiss further. Luke then sat back, took his hat off and he ran his fingers through his hair.

He faced her again. "You said this became clear when your grandmother died. Why did you stay with him?"

His voice was calm and he didn't ask her in an accusatory tone.

"I guess because I didn't want another problem at that time. I know that must sound awful", she said and rubbed her temples. "It's just that I at least had a boyfriend to stand by me. That's not exactly how it went, and now I think it was a waste of time. I was actually hopeful that he'd come around, because he had been begging for that first date for weeks. But then I saw you and Nicole dancing in the town square and you sent me the flowers-"

"You _saw_ us?", he asked perplexed.

"Yeah. I forgot that you had taken over the town square, and it, uh, it really was a nice thing to look at. But it broke my heart, Luke."

She scooted over and took his hand.

"I know you, and I know how much you hate dancing, in public nonetheless, but you did it. For her. And I knew that I couldn't even get Jason to spend the night here. But that's just something you do when you love someone. And he could have given me a thousand keys, it still would have made no difference. He wasn't right."

Luke deeply inhaled, and then smiled at her.

"Let's stop talking about him then. I'd like to make a suggestion", he declared.

"Shoot", she smiled.

"Tomorrow night we'll go out. No movie night at either of our places. We have dinner, you can pick the place, and then I take you home, kiss you good-night, go home, will probably regret just kissing you good-night, but that will be it for the night. And the next day you'll tell me if it feels right to you. Deal?"

Lorelai replied with a kiss. "Luke. It does feel right with you. But if you want to follow your protocol, be my guest. I don't recall it ever feeling not right with you."

"Me either. With you I mean. But since our routine isn't so much different from a married couple, I'd like to at least get you out of the house, be seen with the most beautiful woman, you know", he smiled and kissed her back.

"I find it very distracting to see you smile so much, mister. One could mistake you for a happy person", she chuckled, quickly adding, "Oh my God! I just had an epiphany! You just said we were like an old married couple! What if you're right? Have we been in a functioning relationship without being aware of it? Have I been cheating on you with all those guys? Am I no better than slutty Nicole?"

Lorelai quickly brought her hand in front of her mouth. "Sorry, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have said that. That was a low blow. Forgive me?"

Luke just smiled and pulled her close, her head resting on his chest. "Nothing to forgive. Maybe I just gave her the chance to cheat on me because I wasn't there."

"Sounds like you're excusing her behavior...", Lorelai said carefully.

"I can't change it, so why still be mad? I'm glad it's over with her. And who knows what might have happened if Reverend Skinner hadn't interrupted us that night", Luke admitted sheepishly.

"Yeah, who knows."

"Are those the flowers I sent you all those months ago?", he asked her and motioned his head to the general direction of the end table where the dried flowers sat in a vase.

"They were so pretty, and it had been a long time since I got flowers for an actual reason, that I wanted to keep them forever", she smiled.

"Well, you deserved them", Luke said quietly and breathed in the scent of her shampoo.

* * *

Luke didn't get much sleep the night before their date. It wasn't so much because of nervousness, though he was really nervous, but he was full of anticipation, he could feel it in his fingertips. He finally would be able to go the next step with Lorelai. He hadn't commented on her comparison between Nicole and Amanda Jones, nor the fact that Lorelai might have been hesitant to express her true feelings for him because he was married. None of it mattered to him now, he just wanted to make sure they hadn't taken the friendship route too far for it to become something great. Speaking for himself, that couldn't have been further from the truth. He was excited to see Lorelai every time she came into the diner, every time she talked about something he hadn't heard before. He was sure he would do anything for the woman whose name he loved to break his monosyllabic speaking pattern for.

Seeing her sitting across from him at a table at Sniffy's he wasn't sure he could follow his rule to only kiss her goodnight after their date. She sure had put on her sexiest clothes one could wear in public without being arrested: a navy form-fitting sleeveless dress with a v-neck that dipped so deeply that it revealed a little blue bow on her bra she wore under it. She chatted as usual, only this time he could stop pretending being unnerved by it. He even smiled at a few of her jokes.

For Lorelai, the evening went great. Luke had showed up ten minutes late, so he only had to wait an additional five before she was ready. He was very attentive and kind, but she hadn't expected it any other way. With Luke, she felt like there would be no huge discoveries that would make her change her mind. No statue-like dogs that would give her the feeling that he wanted to control animate beings, no separate beds, no fake intimacy. Dating Luke was a more active participant in the conversations, though she had to force herself to listen to him because he simply looked too good.

Lovely Maisy came by the table. "Everything OK with your entrees?"

"Everything tastes great, Maisy. Thank you so much", Lorelai confirmed.

"I hope he talks more than normally when he's on a date?", Maisy asked Lorelai.

"Who says we're on a date?", Luke asked her.

"Oh please, you shaved, you're wearing a shirt you didn't buy during Clinton's presidency and you left your hat at home. If this isn't a date, you're going to prison tomorrow and you want to have a nice last night", she told him.

Lorelai laughed at that comment and Luke's cheeks reddened.

"I figured", said Maisy, adding, "It was about time. I leave you two lovebirds to it."

"She told me to change my wardrobe since I was basically an adult, and now she almost makes it sound bad that I'm not wearing my hat. She's worse than my mother probably would have been", Luke joked.

"It's because when you love someone a lot, you feel a lot freer to criticize them. That's how I explain my mother's constant nagging", Lorelai guessed.

"Is that why you mock me for liking Outer Limits?", Luke said with a smirk.

"I've said it before, and I will say it again. I don't speak Geek", she smiled.

Later that night, Luke opened the passenger door of his old trusty truck. Lorelai quickly got out and wrapped a lightblue stole around her shoulders. Luke walked her to her door, his hand resting on her back.

"So this is it?", she said expectantly.

"For tonight, yeah it is", Luke confirmed.

"I had a really great time tonight."

"I'm glad. You could have had another dessert, you know?"

"I never eat too much on a first date. Don't wanna scare off the poor fella", Lorelai smiled.

"Bit too late for that", he snorted. "Or did the four Thanksgiving dinners just exist in my head?"

"No, but you're still here. So I must have done something right."

"Yeah, probably", Luke smiled back and leaned in to kiss her.

Lorelai cupped his neck and pulled him close. He kissed her softly, but she needed more. She quickly granted him access to her mouth, and moaned when his tongue entered it. His hands were roaming her back and soon she had his hair in her fists, her body shamelessly grinding against his.

"Lorelai", he said as soon as they broke for air.

"I know, I'm sorry, this goes against your rules", she said a little embarrassed.

"No, it's OK. I didn't exactly prevent it", he admitted and looked her deep in the eye.

"So I guess this means good night?"

"Yeah, it does. Good night, Lorelai", Luke said and kissed her sweetly one last time.

"Night", she said and slipped through the door.

* * *

This was ridiculous. She was a grown woman, yet here she was walking through Stars Hollow in the middle of the night. In her pajamas. This wasn't a planned thing either. She was so sure that she could survive that one night. She had gone through her bathroom routine, removing her make-up, brushing her hair, when she realized that it was half past eleven already. He had never said that she had to sleep on it. He only said that the next day she would have to tell him of everything felt right with him. Of course it did feel right with him! This had been the most relaxed first date of her entire life! But not so relaxed that she felt it hadn't been exciting. So when she woke up at one am, she knew she'd have trouble falling asleep again. It was technically the next day, and if he should have a problem with that, she would tell him that she wasn't breaking any rules. She made her way through the abandoned streets, and felt the cold night against her face.

Finally the diner could be seen on the other side of the town square. Lorelai quickly closed the distance and found the key above the door. Faster than one could say 'Donna Reed cooked an entire buffet in one episode' she was upstairs in Luke's apartment and watched how his ribcage rose and fell with each breath. Slowly she went to sit on his bed and softly touched his shoulder to wake him up.

"Luke", she said calmly.

He woke with a start. "Lorelai! Are you OK? Is Rory OK?"

"Yeah, we're fine. I didn't mean to startle you. I'm here to tell you how right everything felt tonight", she told him, still clutching his shoulder.

"What?", he asked half asleep.

"Luke, I think we had a great night, and I'm here to tell you it has never felt any more right with anyone I've been with", Lorelai said calmly.

He sank back into his pillow. "And you couldn't wait till tomorrow?"

"It _is_ tomorrow", Lorelai said.

"That sentence makes no sense, it's also not correct."

"It's after midnight", she insisted.

"Tomorrow means after waking up!", he growled.

"But I did wake up. And so did you."

"I didn't wake up. You _woke_ me up."

"Luke, it's time to get up."

"Why?"

"Because I want to dance."

"Why?"

"Because we didn't dance on our first date. I want to dance with you."

"Our first date is over already."

"You said tomorrow wasn't until you wake up. You can't have it both ways. Now come on big guy!", she said and pulled on his arms.

Luke groaned, but got up.

"What do we dance to?", he asked while he yawned.

"Have you seen the movie _Hail Caesar_?"

"No."

"OK, so imagine the song with the finger snapping they sing at the end", she said superfluously.

She wrapped her arms around Luke's shoulders and began to slowly sway to the music in her head. Her head rested on his shoulder, and she heard him deeply inhale while he nuzzled her hair. Her hands now rubbed slow circles on his strong back.

"Luke?", she asked.

"Hmmm?", he growled.

"How does it feel?"

"I never said it wasn't feeling right for me. I just didn't want you mistaking comfort for love", he explained.

"It's not just comfort. Or how would you explain those butterflies in my stomach?", she wanted to know.

"Who knows with all that crap you eat...", he smiled sleepily.

"Shut up", she said and playfully slapped him on the shoulder.

* * *

The butterflies are only for you, _DSLeo_! I'd love to read some reviews from my favorite readers!


	16. It's About Time: Epilogue

**AN:** Hey everyone! Surprise, look who's back! A reader named _chants _requested a sequel or epilogue to this story. I'm not much of a sequel writer I'm afraid. There are good LL sagas out there IMO. For months I really couldn't come up with an epilogue theme either, and some epilogues I read are just like a regular chapter. So without direction, I naturally didn't see the necessity to write anything. But last night it hit me. Here it goes: A little peek into Luke and Lorelai's life, approximately three months after we last saw them.

* * *

**It's About Time: Epilogue**

Though she felt deeply calm and relaxed, Lorelai couldn't find sleep that night. It had been a long, but good day, and she hadn't had too much coffee after dinner. Not that he would have allowed that anyway. One cup to go with dessert, maybe Affogato, a combination of both that Sookie had introduced her to. None of that was keeping her from falling asleep. It was him.

Lorelai was staring at Luke's sleeping form on the bed next to her. Well, technically partly on top of her, since his left leg was draped over her right one. Before they started dating, and ultimately had spent their first night together, Lorelai assumed he would keep his hat on at night. It all felt so new to her that she couldn't get enough of the sight of a hat-less Luke. And the fact that they spent almost every night in her bed, naked when Rory wasn't home.

This night was special though. The first night they spent together without having slept together. And he still insisted he stay over. Not that it had been planned at all. They were both tired, yet he cooked her spaghetti and meatballs, they took a shower together, but as soon as Luke's head hit the pillow, he was out. And Lorelai loved him for it. She welcomed him into her house, her life, and her most intimate world, and he gladly accepted the invitation. No fight, no argument, no spat. Spare clothes magically appeared in a drawer that magically had been emptied by her. Caesar magically took over the breakfast shift on many days per week, sometimes Luke even "slept in", which in his case meant 7.30 on a weekday, and 8 o'clock on the weekend.

She stroked over his stubbly cheek, but he didn't stir. The room was lit only by the moonlight that shone through her sheer curtains, yet she could see the patches of gray in his beard, and smiled. How many times had she heard him say "Lorelai, I'm too old for this" when she suggested strip Twister? How many times had she replied "You'll never get as old as you look" just to tease him?

Lorelai felt like a princess sometimes. She had never been so spoiled by a boyfriend in her life. Not too rarely she found him in the kitchen in the morning, preparing her favorite breakfast foods, or when she came home and dinner wasn't ready yet, he had run her a bath already. And most importantly, she loved him for making himself available to her both physically and emotionally. As she stroked from his shoulder down his arms, Lorelai thought about timing, and how their relationship might have been different had they gotten together sooner. Before Jason. Before Nicole. Or even before Max. She really thought that she might have appreciated him less, or taken him for granted. Nothing can make you more aware of things like that like a summer of not talking, or seeing the love of your life married to someone else. Lorelai supposed it would have been different for Luke as well. Listening to her for years as she talked about other men, complaining, criticizing, mocking every little detail. He knew her so well. In her mind she compared it to having watched a detailed instruction video before you sew your first dress. He came prepared.

When her fingertips reached the palm of his left hand, he twitched a little. She quickly drew her hand back, pressed a kiss to his nose, and turned her back to him to finally get some sleep. It wasn't long before she felt him move behind her, and soon his right arm snaked around her waist and he buried his head in her curls.

"Can't sleep?", he mumbled.

"Don't know why. I'm tired. But you're distracting me", she replied in a whisper.

"How? I didn't do anything."

"Your presence distracts me. In the best way possible", Lorelai smiled.

"Really? Or is it because I didn't wear you out earlier?", he asked her with a cocky grin.

She wiggled her butt and grabbed his hand to make him hug her tighter.

"I think you got the cart before the horse, sir. I seem to recall not too many nights ago when a certain someone could barely make it up the stairs after some much needed alone time on the couch."

"That's not fair. You and Rory had your _Triangle_ marathon that entire weekend, and I missed you", Luke stated before he kissed the nape of her neck.

Lorelai chuckled. "Hey Luke?"

"Hmmm?"

"I really love that you spend the night here so often. Do you maybe want a key to the house?"

"I can use the one you hide in Eddie like I always do when you're not home yet."

"It's Tony, not Eddie. Tony the turtle. Keep up, we're all about alliterations here. But that's beside the point. An own key would make it more... official. Plus, you could leave your cat burglar outfit at home."

"Well, if I don't have to dress up anymore, then yeah, I'll take your key", he replied with an ironic tone of voice.

"Seriously, hon. Take the key. You're here almost every night anyway", Lorelai said and turned around to face him.

She looked him intently in the eye.

"OK. But you have to ask Rory if it's OK. I don't want her coming home from Yale on day and scaring the living daylights out of her when I'm alone here."

"Deal. Kiss?", she said as she pursed her lips.

They kissed goodnight, and though she kept looking at him for a few more minutes, his soft snores soon lulled her to sleep eventually.


End file.
